New Blood
by NewTownGirl
Summary: Ever wonder what the rest of the family thought after Edward's first meeting with Bella? The events of Twilight from the viewpoint of the other Cullen family members.
1. Alice

A series of one-shots looking at the Cullen children's ride home from school on the day of Bella and Edward's first meeting.

**New Blood**

**Alice  
**

Where was he? Not that I was impatient, it just wasn't like Edward to hang around school any longer than possible and now we had all been sitting in the car at least five minutes. Maybe something had gone wrong? Had anything happened to him? Surely I hadn't let something through my radar, I had spent all afternoon focusing on Jasper, what if I had missed something to do with my brother?

My husband caught my eye and smiled; reassuring me. If anything had happened to Edward we would have been told. I gazed out the window and at the small groups of student still milling around their cars but was distracted by the banging of a door of the building furthest from us and I spotted him. He face was contorted in the most horrible expression ever; he looked to be in insurmountable pain. My heart rushed out for him.

He crossed the parking lot in moments, his speed making him nearly invisible to all the humans. Only one seemed even the slightest bit aware of the movement. And then he was there, pulling the door open and throwing himself into the car.

"Edward", I tried to keep the panic out of my voice. What had happened to him?

He shushed me with a quick shake of his head and quickly began the car.

"What the hell happened to you?" Emmett was tactful as always. I turned to glare at him and he fell back into silence. We were speeding out of the parking lot now, the car hitting seventy before we made it to the main road. Everyone was looking at me but I simply stared at Edward. What had happened to him that I had missed? Sometimes I wished I could read minds instead of see the future; my special gift was no use to me when finding out what had already happened.

I knew Jasper was worrying about the climate in the car so I turned and shrugged at him, anything to calm him down.

I turned forwards again, as though watching the road but it quickly disappeared. Images of Edward in the snow flitted through my mind, him lying in the snow with the same pained expression on his face he wore now.

It was not going to snow in Forks anytime soon.

"You're leaving", how had this happened?

Everyone had turned to look at us.

"Am I?"I gripped the side of my chair. Suddenly it all made sense.

"Oh", Bella Swan; the new girl. Dead. Her skin white; blood flowing from open wounds upon her body. It became clearer. Edward, inside Chief Swan's house, a kitchen with painted yellow cupboards, a girl sitting doing her homework; unaware of the danger she is in until it is too late.

"Stop", Edward's words pulled me out of the vision.

"Sorry", the pain in his face made me physically ill; I had caused that look.

The scene shifted again; a dark highway sheltered by tall trees that whipped past.

"I'll miss you", I turned to look at him, "No matter how short a time you're gone".

Everyone in the back seat was still looking at the two of us were mental, only Jasper had any clue what was going on and I could see Edward's bloodlust for the Swan girl had rubbed off on my husband. I would have to take him hunting very soon.

He was driving that fast we were nearly home already.

"Drop us here. You should tell Carlisle yourself", I could explain what was happening to the others but no matter how old we were we still had a father, and he had the right to hear this first hand.

The rest of them got out as he pulled over but I hung back for a second.

"You will do the right thing", I had no doubt of this but it was always worth reminding him. "She's Charlie Swan's only family. It would kill him, too".

I remained still until he turned to me and answered a resigned "yes" but I wasn't sure what part of my statement he was agreeing with. I stepped out the car and he sped away as I closed the door.

I waited until he had turned and set himself back in the direction of town, and of the hospital before turning into the trees and darting after everyone else. They weren't hard to find; waiting just out of sight of the house beneath the trees, they were waiting for me.

Rose was the first to speak, "So, what has our little brother in such a mess? And what do you mean he's leaving? Where is he going?" Her tone was demanding, Rose really didn't like to be out of the loop. Underneath her disdain there was a softness however, despite how difficult she could be our family was the only place in the world for her and she knew it.

"I don't want to have to explain this more than once, even that's going to be difficult enough", I shuddered at the images that had been in my mind only moments before. I had tried hard not to show it in front of Edward but the disgust that I felt about the idea of him hunting that poor, vulnerable looking girl was making me sick. Humanizing was a huge part of the process for me when I chose this lifestyle and she simply screamed of it; so frail, so vulnerable. Her type was to be protected, not hunted.

I moved towards Jasper and he slipped one arm around me.

"C'mon, we need to go up and see Esme and then I promise I will explain everything as best I can", and tucking my head under Jasper's arm we made our way up to the house.

_A/N: I own nothing, even some of the words are taken directly from Midnight Sun, I just spun it another way. Please review! Jasper is next. _


	2. Jasper

**New Blood**

**Jasper  
**

"Oh come on Jasp", Emmett's exasperated voice came from next to me and I rolled my eyes. Not this again.

"Not tonight", we had been having this same argument all day; Emmett insisted I had cheated in our wrestling match last night. How exactly one cheated in a wrestling match I did not know but he was determined to have a rematch and it had been all I could do to stop him skipping classes and dragging me home.

"I need to hunt first", there was a hard edge to my voice I didn't like. Luckily my brother knew it wasn't directed at him but rather at my own frustration about the difficulties I had with our vegetarian diet that didn't seem to plague the others.

"Fine", Emmett harrumphed and swivelled in his seat and put his arm behind Rose, apparently content with my answer. "Hell, maybe I can go hunting with you and we can have a match on the way back". I smiled at my brother, feeling his pleasure at the outcome. Emmett was one of my favourite people to be around, other than Alice of course, the energy coming off him was always so uncomplicated. He was happy, he was sad, he was disappointed. The emotions coming from him never had the edge I felt from other people; jealousy, the desire to cause pain. It was refreshing.

I looked forward at my tiny wife in the front seat. She was worried; that much was written on her face and I could also feel the waves of worry and doubt coming off her now that she had my full attention. Worrying about Edward's location no doubt, then again it was strange for him to take so long to get here.

I caught her eye and smiled and she returned the gesture. She was so beautiful when she smiled; her happiness was like the sun, lighting up my life. She was calming so I leant back, watching her eyes flicker across the remaining students in the parking lot; they were darker than usual today and I suddenly longed for the golden colour they went after we fed. I wondered if she would mind hunting with Emmett and I tonight.

A loud banging broke me out of my reverie. I turned to see Edward dart out of one of the buildings across from us. His face was like thunder; anger, desire and pain all rolled up into one, although maybe I only thought so because I could feel it, rolling over me uncomfortably. What the hell had happened to him?

He was in the car in moments, wrenching the door open and throwing himself into the seat. The emotions coming off him were suffocating; guilt, pain, desire and underneath it all a burning hunger. I shuddered. I was barely aware of Alice saying his name lightly, and Emmett demanding an explanation from beside me, all I could feel was his hunger. Something was horribly wrong.

We were out of the school in seconds and flying down the road towards home. I tried to focus on Alice, concern was radiating out of her and it nearly blocked the bloodlust coming from Edward. She turned towards me, trying to look nonchalant while shrugging, the attempt almost made me laugh. I focused on her concern as she turned forward again, her and Emmett and even the ice maiden Rose were all desperately worried and it calmed me to be distracted from the emotions flying from Edward.

Alice's small voice broke the silence that we had fallen in to.

"You're leaving?" she sounded so helpless.

"Am I?" my usually so certain brother sounded like a small child but I felt a change in him; relief. Well at least there was a solution, if a poor one.

"Oh", her small voice did not convey what hit me now. The dark hunger rearing its head but not just from Edward; whatever it was he feared Alice could now see and she could feel it. I tried to block the mixture of pain, hunger, guilt and disgust flying from the two of them now. Emmett elbowed me, helpfully if a little hard but I turned to smile a small thanks at him nonetheless. People often thought of my larger brother as simple due both to his size and simple use of language but it hid a high observant man, if a little rash.

I focused on him instead of what was happening in the front of the car and he held my gaze. He may have as little clue about what was actually going on in the front seat as me, less even, but he knew it was causing me problems and I was thankful for his help. I let my attention slip to Rose, who was sitting pouting unhappily, although I couldn't tell if this was due to the scene occurring or the lack of attention she was getting.

I heard Alice talking again in the front seat and it took all my effort not to turn my focus back on to the front seat, instead still looking intently at Emmett. I caught the word Carlisle as we pulled towards the house and Edward stopped the car quickly. Emmett motioned me to jump out as he followed Rose and we headed immediately towards the think forest where we could run the rest of the way home.

I turned and saw Alice still sat in the car with Edward, I would give them a moment; Edward and Alice had always been close. It had caused me grief to begin with but being around the two of them so much with the useful ability to sense their emotions meant I knew there was no need to worry; their love for each other was as pure as any other brother and sister, closer perhaps.

I darted through the trees to catch up with the other two; it was not hard, I could hear Rosalie's voice from anywhere.

"Well what the blazes is wrong with him?" she was demanding of Emmett.

"I don't know love", he voice was soothing and as I rounded the trees I could see him walk towards her and hold her close to his chest. "But I am sure Alice will fill us in as soon as she gets here", he turned to me, obviously hoping for back-up.

"She'll be here any minute", I leant on a tree close to them. Rose looked like she wanted to talk more but a quick look from me silenced her. There was no point in discussing it till Alice caught up with us.

I could hear her light footsteps now anyway; darting through the forest towards us.

She had barely stopped when Rose began again.

So, what has our little brother in such a mess? And what do you mean he's leaving? Where is he going?".

I didn't pay attention to her, keeping my focus on Alice who was looking nervous about what was happening.

"I don't want to have to explain this more than once, even that's going to be difficult enough", her voice was small and I could feel some of the emotions earlier flowing from her again; guilt, horror and more disgust. I was not looking forward to this conversation either. She moved towards me; slipping lightly under my arm which opened automatically to enclose her and we began walking towards the house.

_A/N: Let me know what you think! I can't decide whether to try Emmett or Rosalie next... Decisions, decisions..._


	3. Emmett

**New Blood**

**Emmett**

This wait was getting monotonous and I couldn't even convince Jasper to get interested in the idea of a rematch. Bah, where the hell was Edward?

Maybe it was worth one last go at Jasper...

"Oh c'mon Jasp'", the use of Alice's nickname for him was a calculated move but I thought I could get away with it, plus it made him easier to manipulate.

"Not tonight", his eyes rolled. So much for my hope; maybe if I gave him my best puppy dog eyes I could convince him, after all, they always worked on Rose.

Rose. Oh dear, she didn't look entirely happy I had spent the entire time we had been waiting here harassing Jasper.

"I need to hunt first", Jasper's voice was hard but I knew it wasn't directed at me. He had so much more difficulty than the rest of us going so long between hunts. Maybe I could offer to go with... I would only manage to go if I made it up to Rose before then though. I turned my body, difficult in the confines of the car and put my arm around her.

"Fine. Hell, maybe I can go hunting with you and we can have a match on the way back", I turned my back on him to quickly peck my wife on the cheek. She looked haughtily up at me but I knew I wasn't in trouble, she just wanted more attention. Jasper seemed to have been distracted by Alice so I leant down to kiss her perfect red mouth.

It always amazed me that someone as beautiful as Rosalie had chosen me as her equal. I had thought she was an angel the first moment I saw her and I still did. She might be petty and childish at times but her heart was pure and I knew that there was no one in this world who was better suited to me. In fact I enjoyed all the extravagant displays of affection she was a fan of, and her smile upon seeing something beautiful I had bought her made my heart feel as though it were beating again.

I know many people thought of me as simple, but I have never felt the need to view the world another way. What is good is good for the family and what is bad is anything that threatens us, so I will protect us from the bad the best way I can. And what makes my wife happy makes me happy, so I do that the best I can too. Everything else isn't worth considering.

Rose was looking up at me, her large eyes brimming with questions of what I was thinking.

"You're very deep in thought there, husband", I looked down at her and considered the answer that would please her most.

I leant in as close to her ear as possibly, she was my entire world.

"I was just distracted by how insanely beautiful you are", she smiled and opened her mouth to reply but there was no time for the words to come out.

The car door banged and Edward threw himself heavily into the seat; Alice and Jasper must have seen him coming because they were both already staring at him. Confusion was written across their faces.

"Edward", Alice started but he cut her off with a look and began backing out of the space as fast as possible.

"What the hell happened to you?" I never got an answer; Alice turned in the front seat and glared me down.

I didn't see what the problem was; if something was bothering him he should just spit it out. I didn't want to mess with Alice though, she could be a little devil if you got on her wrong side so instead we lapsed into silence as Edward sped out of the parking lot.

Actually, he didn't look that good. Hell the poor boy looked in pain. What the hell had happened to him? And why hadn't Alice seen it?

Apparently everyone else in the backseat had already had this thought as they were looking at Alice; obviously hoping for some sort of explanation.

She wasn't paying attention though, whatever had happened she hadn't seen. Rose is going to blame her for not seeing it but really, we all depended far too much on Alice's gifts. She had probably quite rightly spent all afternoon concentrating on Jasper. We had all seen him at lunch, if anything bad was going to happen it would have been related to him, surely. No Edward, he was probably the most sensible of all of us at school.

"You're leaving", Alice's voice was quiet and Rose, Jasper and I leaned forward hoping to hear more.

"I am?" apparently Edward wasn't as sure as she was.

And then Alice let out a shocked "oh".

This wasn't the first time I had wondered what the two of them were sharing, secret from the rest of us. Or not secret enough. Whatever it was was seriously bothering Jasper, I felt him tense beside me and in the corner of my eye I could see his own darken with thirst.

"Stop", Edward's voice pleaded from the driver's seat. I elbowed Jasper as hard as I could in the confined space and his attention was distracted. God, what had they been feeling? His eyes were pitch black and he looked thoroughly horrified.

"Drop us here. You should tell Carlisle yourself", thank god, I slipped a glance out the window. We were nearly home. I didn't like the idea of Edward leaving us but if it was necessary it was necessary, I was still a bit upset about not knowing why though.

As the car pulled to a stop I motioned Jasper out of the door before following Rose out of her side. The two of us began walking into the forest, the other's would catch up and I wanted to talk to Rose before Alice caught up with us. Better she have a rant to me now than at Alice later.

I slipped my hand into hers as we walked through the forest, hoping to calm her slightly but it didn't work. We stopped not far from the house and she turned to me.

"What is going on Emmett?" I shrugged, no point in conjecture till we had all the facts.

"Well what the blazes is wrong with him?" she may have sounded angry but I knew it wasn't directed at anyone. Rosalie, while often irked by him, loved her brother dearly and she was doing her best not to let anyone know how much his appearance was worrying her.

"I don't know, love", I crushed her against my chest. Perhaps a little too hard, a long nail jabbed at my chest. I could hear Jasper behind me and turned me head to him for back-up. "But I am sure Alice will fill us in as soon as she gets here".

"She'll be here any minute", he moved to lean against a tree across from us and I turned down to my wife once more. I was determined to calm her down before Alice got her so I began tugging at the ends of her long hair in a way I knew she loved while lightly kissing her neck. I didn't have long enough, Alice exited the forest and Rose immediately pushed me away to begin questioning her.

"So, what has our little brother in such a mess? And what do you mean he's leaving? Where is he going?" she wouldn't even let Alice get a word in so I grabbed her hand; attempting to silence her. Alice looked like she was going to be sick but managed to pawned her off, telling her it was better everyone heard at once, before slipping herself under Jasper's arm and heading towards home.

I pulled Rose under my own arm and kissed her lightly.

"Don't fret beautiful", I whispered low so no one else would hear. "I know you are worried about him, we all are, but we'll know soon enough". I tried to sound light but it came out badly, tonight looked like it was going to be a long night. And worse than that, it looked like my rematch with Jasper would have to be rescheduled.

_A/N: It is very late and I am very sleepy so I apologise if some of this is badly written. I will read over it again tomorrow and fix any mistakes I spot. I was just so inspired by my reviewers I had to put up the next chapter! Thanks empath51780 and twifantasyfan! I figured it would be easier to do Emmett first, to help me understand more about Rosalie's character but I am not sure it helped me. Will be doing my best to get her one up tomorrow or the next day and then I'm not sure. Should I keep it going with more scenes from Twilight/Midnight Sun or leave it at the car ride? Anyways, sorry for the long ramble. Please review!_


	4. Rosalie

**New Blood **

**Rosalie  
**

I flipped my hair over my shoulder and continued to gaze aimlessly out of the car window. Where the hell was Edward? I watched Alice in the front seat unhappily. I knew my clothes were going to be wrinkled by the time I got out the car at home but seeing as I had got the front seat on the way here it was her turn on the way back. I would never have agreed to it had I known today would be the day that Edward decided to hang around after school.

Emmett was next to me but he was too distracted to notice my concern. He had spent the majority of the day so far desperately trying to convince Jasper to having yet another wrestling match; silly boys. At least Edward would calm them both down when he got here, he tended to be above their petty little games.

I couldn't help myself getting distracted as I looked at Emmett's round face. He was extremely handsome in a wonderful, all American way. More importantly than that he also made me feel safe in a way I had not felt either when alive or at the beginning of my new life. My strong man.

He was trying again to convince Jasper and I heard the pain in my brother's voice as he gave in and admitted his need to hunt. Personally I thought these attempts at lengthening his time between hunts were pointless, we should just all learn to deal with his higher frequency of hunting.

Emmett had turned and put his arm around me; he wanted something.

"Fine. Hell, maybe I can go hunting with you and we can have a match on the way back". Well that explained it; he wanted permission to go hunting with his brother this evening. Not that he needed it, he was a big boy and perfectly capable to doing what he wanted but I liked the fact he turned to me anyway. He kissed my cheek and I pouted, if he was going to notice my presence I may as well take advantage of it. He tightened his arm around me and kissed me again, this time on the mouth.

I pulled away and watched him, he was unusually deep in thought; his eyes glazed over slightly but still focused on me. I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking of.

"You're very deep in thought there, husband", his eyes focused back on to mine and I saw him smile, wistfully. He leaned further into me, his lips right by my ear and told me what I wanted to hear.

" I was just distracted by how insanely beautiful you are", see, the perfect man.

I didn't have time to respond, the car door was pulled open violently and Edward threw himself in to the front seat. What did he think he was doing? If he hadn't looked in such a state I would have chastised him for being so violent with the car.

Alice's soft voice called his name but he silenced her with a look. What was going on and why the hell hadn't Alice known about it?

Emmett's voice rang out from beside me, demanding an explanation. Before I had the chance to nudge him into silence Alice had turned and fixed him with the death stare.

Edward pulled the car violently out of the space, pushing it to its limit as quickly as possible so we were soon tearing down the road. Something must be seriously wrong if he was being so violent with his baby.

Jasper and I were both looking at Alice, she was usually the one to give us an explanation of Edward's behaviour. No such luck, she was focussed intently on the road passing under our feet, obviously trying to work out what had happened. I couldn't help but scowl; it was her job to make sure nothing happened to jeopardise our family and something had obviously slipped through.

"You're leaving", I moved closer, hoping for more information. What the hell did she mean Edward was leaving?

Edward spoke for the first time since he had entered the car and I could hear doubt in his voice, an emotion I had never if rarely heard from him before.

"I am?" and then they were back to communicating between the two of them. God this was frustrating.

Alice let out a strangled "oh" followed by a "stop" from Edward. What the fricking hell was going on?

I leant back and left them all too it. Whatever it was they were thinking of the emotions were bothering Jasper but Emmett was dealing with it. I turned to look out the window; at least we were nearly home. Alice had insisted Edward explain events to Carlisle himself, apparently not something we were entitled to, so he pulled up and car and I jumped out followed by Emmett. Jasper seemed to be waiting for Alice so the two of us joined hands and began the rest of the journey home.

I had planned to start discussing it as soon as we were far enough away from Edward but Emmett kept his eyes on me and I knew he didn't want to talk about it yet. I couldn't wait long though so as soon as we got to the edge of the forest I turned and asked him what he thought was going on. He shrugged.

"Well what the blazes is wrong with him?" I was getting mad now. How dare he make all of us so worried and not explain it?

He pulled me tight against him, "I don't know, love", yeah; helpful! I jabbed his chest in frustration. "But I'm sure Alice will fill us in as soon as she gets here". Yeah right.

Jasper had joined our little group and confirmed that Alice was on her way. Well, she may be on her way but I was certain we were not going to get to hear the whole story, not yet anyway. I was going to have to be quick to get some answers out of her. I didn't let her round the corner before beginning my questioning.

"So, what has our little brother in such a mess? And what do you mean he's leaving? Where is he going?" I really was mad now. What right did the two of them have to change all of our lives without even asking us about it!

Emmett pulled me closer, trying to quieten me but I didn't want to be quiet. I wanted to know dammit!

"I don't want to have to explain this more than once, even that's going to be difficult enough", I nearly felt bad for a moment there. Alice and I were not particularly close sisters, despite our mutual interests but at that moment she looked genuinely upset so I didn't say anything as she drew herself under Jasper's arm and began walking towards the house.

Emmett put his arm around me also and whispered some non-descript reassurance in my ear but I wasn't listening. I was too busy trying desperately to work out what was going on. Whatever it was our discussion with Esme was not going to be fun.

_A/N: My original plan only involved doing these four chapters but I have had a request to continue with Esme and Carlisle's views of what happens. The problem is we already have Carlisle's view due to Edward's useful mind-reading ability and I'm not sure I can write well from Esme's point of view. I may come back to it in a couple of days when I see if people want me to continue. Special thanks to twifantasyfan for the reviews!_


	5. Esme

**Esme**

I had spent the majority of the afternoon re-arranging the sitting room and I was finally happy with it; now I just needed Alice and Rosalie's opinions on it and I could leave it for good. Although we had moved into the house in Forks two and a half years ago now I was still finalising the last of the decorating, only the upstairs bathrooms left now (in case one day we decided to sell it) and everything would be as it should.

I glanced at the beautiful antique watch on my wrist, a gift from Carlisle, it was nearly four. The kids should be home by now; they weren't exactly the most social creatures so it was unusual for them to spend any time hanging around after school. I hoped there hadn't been any trouble with the new girl who was starting today; you could never be sure what an over observant human might notice. If that was the case we would need to move again, I was stuck between pleasure at the idea of being able to do up another house and frustration at the fact I would have to leave this one unfinished.

At that moment I heard a car pull off the highway and I sighed with relief. I did it every single time I heard them come home. Despite many of them being older than me, or at least born before me, I was most definitely their mother and even letting them out my sight filled my stomach with dread. The car didn't come all the way up though; I heard it stop and a couple of doors slam as people got out and started into the forest. Seconds later a door slammed again and I heard the car reverse back down the drive and turn back into town.

I moved to the window and double checked the scents of the vampires on the way to the house, as I suspected; Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett were at the far end of the garden discussing something in angry tones. Probably just another silly argument; I was best letting them work it out between themselves before they got to the house. I moved back through to the living room and jumped onto one of the large sofas. If they were bickering there couldn't be anything seriously wrong. They had stopped talking and separated into pairs; Alice's light footsteps and Jasper's swift ones in front followed by the heavy footfall of Emmett and Rosalie's girlie totter.

The two most beautiful couples in the world as far as I was concerned. Rosalie had been my first child and she was such a beautiful one at that, her looks making her the envy of every girl who saw her. It had upset me and Carlisle that her and Edward had not fallen together as we had hoped but when she had found Emmett everything had fallen into place. He was classically handsome; the perfect mirror to her with his all American blonde hair and large muscles. He looked like an insanely beautiful football player. He was softer than Rose though, genuine and frank in such an unusual way. They were the true definition of romance as well; taking constant second, third and fourth honeymoons between their many weddings. Their love was not just showy though and was present in every gaze between them.

Then again if you were talking about the meaning of a look you couldn't help but think of Alice and Jasper. They viewed their love in an entirely different way; the privacy they held so dear meaning that even the smallest gesture between them was wonderful to see. I had been so pleased they had waited until after they met us in order to marry, it had been a particularly special moment seeing the two of them express their love to one another. I suspected I would not get to see something that intimate between them again but it didn't matter. I knew they loved each other as much as two people were capable of; their unique attributes and personality traits coming through to make the two of them whole.

But what of my final child? My beautiful Edward? I had wished so many times that he would find the same contentment the rest of us did in the arms of another but it appears it was not meant to be. Carlisle had once admitted to me his worry that Edward had simply been too young when he was changed to consider the necessity of a mate but I didn't think it was the case. Being able to read every thought in the minds of any possible mates had made it very difficult; it took imagination and excitement out of romance. There was also the issue of finding someone good enough for him; I would never admit it to anyone but when Tanya had made her affections for him obvious I had been most glad he had spurned her advances. While she was a lovely girl, who I was proud to call a friend, she was not right for him. Far too crude and direct for a boy who's head was so constantly stuck in the clouds. I hoped that when he found someone she was good enough for him and I knew, despite what I had thought of Tanya, that when he did meet someone we would welcome her with open arms.

I had become so lost in thoughts I barely registered the small group coming through the back door and into the living room. I turned my head up and smiled but seeing their faces I instantly jumped to my feet.

"What is it Alice?" she seemed like the logical person to ask; everyone else had their eyes on her also. "Where's Edward? I heard him drop you off, where did he go?"

She wasn't answering me and I sank down into the chair. Rosalie came and joined my, slipping under one of my arms.

"You promised you would tell us when we got here", she was looking directly at Alice.

"I know... Just give me a second", the boys had sat down on the other sofa while Alice still paced the floor.

"I'm not sure what is going to happen from here; but this is what I know..."

_A/N: I know that was a mean place to end but I really don't know if I'm going to tackle Alice trying to explain it to everyone, particularly from this POV. I really wanted to do Esme so I could have a little look at the existing couples and her hopes for Edward. Let me know what you think and if I should continue. This is already a chapter longer than I originally planned but am beginning to really enjoy writing it. Anyway, this is getting a bit long. Please, please, please let me know what you think! Reviews make my day :)_


	6. Carlisle

**Carlisle**

It had been yet another slow day at Fork's tiny hospital. Not that I was complaining; the lack of serious injury was one of the reasons I had wanted to come back to Forks, a first for us. The lack of violent injury was another blessing; very few of the injuries were human on human, the majority being accidently broken bones in children and logging accidents. Although I would never admit it to my children or my wife the only times I ever had the slightest bit of blood lust it was due to the individuals in society who thought it was acceptable to harm those weaker than them. I wasn't that person though. I was not truly a part of this world and therefore had no right to end the lives of any of the individuals within it. Not that it had ever stopped me doing my job and ensuring they were investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Yes, living in the quiet town of Forks had many perks.

I quickly wrote up my cases from the day; made infinitely easier by my vampiric memory. One six year old boy; broken arm from falling out of a tree he was climbing. It would heal up perfectly; no long term damage. One logger missing 2 fingers; a surgery that I hated to say would not have worked out so well had any other surgeon in the hospital attempted it. After a couple of months of physical therapy they would work perfectly again, lucky seeing as he had confessed to me his desire to one day play professional guitar. A couple who had lost control of their car; no serious injuries, they were already home.

And my last case of the day; a baby had come in after it had stopped breathing. By the time they had driven straight here, choosing not to wait for an ambulance, he was a worrying blue tinge. Once again my senses had saved the day, as soon as I heard his heartbeat I could hear the deformity in his heart wall. Other doctor's had been calling me reckless, I had not even bothered to do any of the usual diagnostics but there simply hadn't been time to pander to the usual routine, I took him straight into surgery and after a few hours of difficulty hiding my speed from the surgical team he was out and fine. It was lucky human nature was as it was; everyone was so impressed with being able to save another 'helpless' case they did not bother to question how I had done it.

Dotting the last _i_ and crossing the last _t_ I glanced up at the clock; ten past four. My shift didn't end till six so I would have another couple of hours in the ER and unless anything dramatic happened I would be home in time to spend a long evening with Esme and the children. It was just as I exited my small office that I heard the doors of the main entrance bag open and hurried footsteps make their way towards me, I hurried my progress; unable to discern who of the many town residents was on their way towards me over the smell of the various cleaning products used in the hospital.

I spotted Edward making his way towards me several corridors away; the small windows in each of the several doors between us giving me a clear view of him. His face was like I had not seen in many years; since the period of time he had left me and my way of life. He looked like the angel of death walking down the halls and people avoided him like the plague. I did not blame them, he looked truly dangerous at that moment.

'_Edward', _his eyes glanced up in recognition of me calling his name although it was only in thought. His eyes were black and when they set on mine I could barely hide my shock.

'_Edward, I doubt this is the place to have whatever is on your mind'_, I glanced at the people still milling around the single corridor separating us. His eyes still never left my face. _'Let's go to my office'_, I was next to him now and putting one arm around him in a fatherly embrace and guided him back the way I had come. '_whatever it is we can work this out son'_.

I was careful not to think anything as I walked him in and motioned to the chairs set out for more intimate discussions with patients.

"What has happened, son?" I sat down next to him and once again put my arm around him. He looked so young in that moment; a child not a man, his face expressing pain and guilt and his eyes softened slightly losing some of their darkness instantly.

"I need to leave", he looked up at me fearfully, apparently expecting chastisement from me.

There was little point in voicing my questions, '_If you need to leave, for however long Edward, then I understand; I would just ask the reason that takes you from us_'. I pulled him to face me.

"I can't be here, not at the moment and maybe not again. The new girl, Chief Swan's daughter", I knew who she was and he knew it. We were always hyper-vigilant when a new human entered the mix.

"Is she suspicious?" that would be inconvenient but did not explain his current state.

"No", he shook his head wistfully, "It's her blood Carlisle".

'_Her blood? Did one of us?'_, I couldn't suppress a shudder at the thought. He shook his head once more and looked at the floor once again. I wish desperately that I could hear what was going through his head at the moment instead of the other way round. It would make this far easier.

"No you don't Carlisle, you would be ashamed to know what has been going through my head today", I could scarce believe that; Edward had never and could never do anything that would make me think any less of him. If anything my thoughts apparently made him more ashamed and he crumpled into me in a very un-Edwardish way.

"I wanted to kill her Carlisle", he words were stifled by my shoulder but I still heard them perfectly.

'_But you didn't, I can see that Edward_'.

"Barely, it took everything I had not to kill her in that classroom along with every single one of the witnesses. I would have done it".

"But you didn't son", I turned his face towards me. "You didn't hurt anyone and if you need to leave then you must do what is necessary. What happens is your choice here Edward. You will do what you need to do in order to do the right thing and if necessary we will move to be with you. Words cannot express how proud I am of you in this moment my wonderful son. I can see your pain, the agony of the thirst in your eyes from this new blood but you did not do anything wrong. In fact your strength is exemplary".

"You know your faith in me can be maddening, right?" he pulled himself up from the sofa and turned towards me. "And possibly wrong in this case. Either way I need to get out of this town. I'm going to head north; I think I'm going to spend some time up in Denali, at least that is what Alice can see".

"Of course, take my car, it's faster", I lifted myself off the chair to walk him outside.

'_You will do the right thing son, and no matter what the family will always be behind you_'. I continued to reassure him in my thoughts as we made our way out and through the car park to my Mercedes. We didn't speak as he got into the car, it was not necessary and saying goodbye had never been easy for any of us.

"Thank you, father", I heard the words through the sound of the engine and then he was gone, turning straight on to a road heading north out of town.

I turned back towards the hospital and made a decision I had never made in my long career, today I was going home early. I walked back to my office slowly, I would need time to compose myself before I got home and spoke to everyone else. Although I would never admit it to anyone Edward was the favourite of my children, my first son and my first experience of the wonder of fatherhood. Everyone else would need me to be strong; Esme especially, she would take Edward's departure badly.

Putting the last on my paperwork in the correct slot I waved goodbye to my co-workers before making my way out. Edward's Volvo was parked haphazardly and I glanced round quickly before jumping in and quickly starting the engine. This was going to be a long night.

_A/N: So obviously I continued. Special thanks to twifantasyfan for encouraging me and also Hessie my new beta reader - no more silly spelling mistakes and she has promised to keep me in character as possible. Please r&r!_


	7. Alice II

**Alice**

Well I had put this off for as long as I possibly could. Obviously I already knew how everyone was going to react; Jasper would be concerned and a little bit pleased that Edward was having trouble, Rosalie would be inconvenienced by his departure, Emmett would laugh, Esme on the other hand would be inconsolable. She would blame herself for not having the chance to speak to him before he left, followed by guilt at being jealous of the fact he had spoken to Carlisle and not her and finally she would wallow in his pain until he returned. The worst part was the fact that they would all expect me to know when he was coming back; they always forgot the limitations of my powers.

Everyone was gathered below me; Esme and Rose sitting together on one of the repositioned sofas and the boys on another. I folded myself down so I was sitting on the floor between them and began.

"Edward had some trouble today..." I couldn't quite find the right words. "The new girl... Isabella Swan, well, her..." I had never been lost for words before and this was not the time to start stuttering, "Her blood, her scent, it called to him. He nearly killed her in Biology but managed to hold on to his senses. He's gone to Denali to figure out what to do".

No one spoke. In fact the house was so quiet we could have heard a pin drop on the roof.

"When will he be back Alice?" Esme's eyes searched my own and I wished desperately I could give her an answer.

"I don't know, he hasn't decided yet. In fact I'm not even one hundred percent sure he doesn't plan on killing her before he leaves. Her face keeps popping into my head, sometimes alive sometimes not". I shuddered at the thought of seeing her dead eyes one more time.

"Why didn't you see this Alice? I thought that was what you do - keep us safe and together", Rosalie's words stung. There was no way I could have known Edward's reaction to her scent. I didn't have time to try and put her right before Jasper had jumped to defend me.

"How exactly could she have known Rosalie? Edward made a choice when he came into contact with her, as simple as that so will you please stop directing all your anger at my wife". He came to stand beside me now and slipped his hand into mine. Emmett stood up also and went to stand behind Rose but his face was neutral, he didn't blame me at all, he just wanted to support his wife in her grief.

"So you're telling me Edward left because he couldn't handle one little girl?" he smiled and I did the same.

"That's how I should have said it", I laughed and Jasper joined in. I could feel him trying to lighten the mood of the room and appreciated it. Even Esme managed to crack a smile. I hopped over to her and perched on the edge of the sofa.

"He'll be back soon, I don't need to see the future to know that".

"I know dear, I shouldn't be making such a scene", all she had done was sit and look upset, no different from what my reaction would have been hearing the news first hand but I didn't disagree with her just placed my hand in hers.

"Carlisle will be back soon", my eyes unfocussed and glanced forward to see what the rest of the night would entail. Carlisle would come back and comfort Esme giving me and Jasper some alone time before him and Emmett went hunting. Carlisle would join them and Esme, Rose and I would start on the plans for the bathrooms. I was distracted from looking into tomorrow by a car pulling off the main road and everyone made their way outside to welcome Carlisle home.

Esme was first out the door and into his arms before had managed to get out of the car but he held her for a moment nonetheless before pulling himself from the seat. They shared a quiet whisper and I knew she was asking what Edward had said when they had spoken but I didn't listen to the answer. I turned to Jasper and put my arms round his waist.

"I should have been watching more carefully", I spoke low so only he would hear.

"You can't be expected to watch out for every decision each one of us makes and how it will affect the future, it's ridiculous. Anyway it is probably my fault you weren't looking for him. I may not know exactly what you are thinking but I have felt you and Edward worry about me". I didn't bother to contradict him, it was not worth the lie when there was so much else to consider tonight.

Everyone else had made their way back to the house, a surprisingly caring Rose lead Esme in followed by Carlisle and Emmett discussing whether they should call Tanya and warn her of Edward's visit.

I pulled Jasper along behind them. "You, Emmett and Carlisle will go hunting tonight and then I won't need to worry tomorrow while I plan on spending the evening planning more decorating with Esme and Rose". I couldn't help but smile at this, planning was always my favourite aspect of a task, the time before I knew how it would end up.

"But before then Mr Whitlock", I stood on the tips of my toes and glanced round to check we were alone before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "You would be doing me a great service if you would join me for a run, I could really do with letting off some steam".

"I'd be much obliged ma'am", he bent down to kiss my hand before placing it in his own.

"Shall we?" he led me through to the back of the house and I waved at Carlisle as we passed. He smiled but let us continue without words; there would be enough time to talk it all over later. For now, despite the fact our brother was gone, everything would be alright and we could only wait for his decision before crossing the next hurdle.

Once outside we immediately quickened our pace and leapt across the river easily. We ran in silence, hand in hand and I did my best not to think about what was going to happen next.

_A/N: Once again thanks for the reviews guys, means so much to me you are enjoying it! The muses must be with me, 2 chapters in a day! Hope you enjoyed it and please r&r!_


	8. Jasper II

**Jasper**

Edward's departure had left a scar across the family. Despite our attempts to remain constant; the rest of us were continuing at school or work to retain some normality, the tension is the house had been over-powering. Carlisle and Esme's moods had been the lowest I had ever felt, he was desperately worried about his first son and planning very hard; though I had no idea what. Esme was worse, while Carlisle was productive in his grief she had sunk into herself; mourning his loss horribly.

Alice had been distracted all week; desperately searching for what would happen next. Although she had learnt some interesting things; the possibility of a visit from Peter and Charlotte, a few good investments and a storm in a couple of weeks time, it was not what she had been looking for. Occasionally she had seen Edward and I had felt the tension within her when she did, sometimes followed by relief and others by disgust. She still did not know when he would be home.

Rosalie and Emmett moods were also low but it came across differently. Rosalie was still incredibly angry at Edward for having left us so quickly and without a goodbye but it was only one of her worries. The Swan girl appeared to be getting a great deal of attention from the boys at school, and while Rosalie would never think of leaving Emmett, she did appreciate the attention her looks brought. She was upset that her limelight had been stolen, especially at the time she needed it most. This of course had lead to her being very demanding on Emmett.

We had spoken about it while out hunting the night before and I was trying to think of a way to help him. I knew he was as upset with Edward's disappearance as everyone else but Emmett had been consistent in trying to lighten the situation, in fact he seemed to be working as hard as I was at lightening the mood. He had been trying to get up the courage to speak to me about something since we had left the house two hours before but I hadn't wanted to push him; his distraction had meant so far I had got all the best meals. It wasn't until after we had filled ourselves completely, I had taken down a pair of mountain lions while he had found his favourite; a large and very irritable grizzly, that he made any move to say what was on his mind.

"Have you been, you know, _feeling_ anything weird from Rose lately? I know she's upset about Edward leaving; everyone is, but she's been a bit off, with me". He looked very young; shuffling his feet from side to side waiting for my answer.

"Yes, she's horribly upset about Edward, I think she feels a little betrayed by him for leaving us by I have being feeling some other stuff from her at school of all places. She's been feeling jealous, I'm not sure who it is directed at but not any of us; one of the students perhaps".

I was afraid I wasn't going to be much help here; although I could sense what my sister was feeling I had no chance of understanding her motives. I had been surprised when Emmett had immediately begun laughing.

"Jealousy? At school?" he slapped his knee is amusement. "Well apparently it isn't only our dear Edward who is bothered by the new girl". I looked at him incredulously, he had worked out in seconds something that had been confusing me for days. Once again Emmett had proved himself to be smarter than I had thought and it had been proved I should have more faith in him.

"She's been really demanding from of me since the evening after Edward left but at the same time every time I try to touch her she gets mad as hell. I should have known the shift in attention at school would bother her, particularly while she is already so upset".

I couldn't help but laugh along with him. Even in the higher years Isabella Swan was still the talk of the school, every boy seemed to have a very... _positive ... _opinion of her. Her annoyance and jealous caused by such an ordinary and vulnerable looking girl had been and still was hilarious.

"I'm going to have to do something; something big in order to cheer her up".

"Well extravagance was always your style, brother", I started towards home. "You'll think of something, and if you don't you can always ask Alice".

I didn't know what he had decided on but it had kept him busy the rest of the night. In the meantime I planned on spending some time with my own wife while the two of them were out of the house. I also knew Carlisle and Esme planned to hunt together that night so we would have the place to ourselves. That was if I managed to distract her.

She was perched on the edge of the sofa staring into the fire; her eyes in an entirely different place. I watched the focus and unfocus in rapid succession as she tried to figure out what was going to happen. I sent a wave of calm over her causing her slip back into the present.

"Jasper Whitlock, what if I just missed something important because you decided you wanted to build another card castle", I hadn't actually decided on that but it wasn't a bad idea. I was only half way through my attempt to build the seven wonders of the ancient world. The lighthouse at Alexandria was next on the list and I knew I could use Alice's help making it.

"Darn it", she stood up and poked me in the chest; glaring up at me with all her might. "I should have known that telling you would only make you more determined. Go get the cards and I will clear a space for it; we're going to need 76 and a half packs including the jokers". She stood up on her tiptoes to kiss me. "Thank you Jasp', I know I'm going to feel better tomorrow for having done this".

"No worries pixie", I put my arms around her. "I think I need it as much as you".

I made my way upstairs to the large cupboard filled with various board games and glanced at the packs of cards piled up in the back. 76 packs meant 4104 cards, how big was she planning on making this thing? As I picked up the required number and made my way back to the top of the stairs I could see her lying on her front in a newly created space already jotting down page upon page of instructions for me. The contentment coming out of her was breathtaking and as I made my way downstairs she turned her face towards me and grinned brilliantly.

"Come sit with me and bring over 3 packs, we need to start with the corner of the foundations", I threw the other packs down and folded myself next to her and she quickly threw her legs over mine. At least I knew whatever happened with the family I would always have Alice and that was more than enough for me. I wish Edward could find the same thing.

_A/N: And it's still going... Thanks once again for the reviews guys, please let me know what you think about this one; I found it more difficult as I had less guidance from the books than the previous chapters. Emmett will be up next, hopefully later today or tomorrow!_


	9. Emmett II

**Emmett**

My talk with Jasper had soothed at least one of my worries. Rose's reaction to me the past couples of days had worried me and brought up old feelings of resentment towards Edward. When I had first been changed I had been incredibly paranoid about the relationship they had shared before I was around and her going in to lockdown while he was gone had meant it had all come flooding back. I knew my wife loved me with all her heart but that didn't stop me feeling the occasional twinge of jealousy.

It was my line of thought that had helped me work out what was wrong so quickly from Jasper. Despite our age and experience we cannot help but carry the same emotions as any human and one of the primary ones that had been carried over from Rosalie's previous life was her vanity. I had carefully been keeping a discrete eye of the new girl; we had all spotted her glancing at our table each day in search of Edward and we suspected whatever had happened in that Biology lesson had certainly made her aware of him. She didn't seem to have mentioned it to anyone though; at least no one who spoke about it within listening distance of us. Alice was on high alert at school as the only one of us to have any classes with her peers.

Of course this meant that we had all been subject to the trivial talk of the numerous boys in the school who seemed to have their eyes of her. It was just the usual banal banter but it had meant less boys were planning on how to covet my wife, a fact that apparently had not gone undetected by her. I hadn't been able to help but laugh for a long time, the idea that that little girl could possibly compare to Rosalie's perfection was ridiculous. In fact had she been paying attention I had seen the same shock in Isabella Swan's eyes as everyone else when they looked at her.

I knew I was going to have to do something spectacular to perk her up a bit. Something magical that would show her both how much I loved her and how beautiful she was. Maybe something that involved her getting dressed up and a photographer? I whirled through ideas throwing most of them to the side instantly; a meal out was just pointless although we had done it before, school meant I couldn't take her away and she wouldn't want to leave at the moment anyway, that left stuff to do in state...

The national parks were out; we had done it all before on hunts and she wasn't a fan of the outdoors. There were plenty of museums but having lived through history they didn't teach us much. Art galleries were a bit too conservative for her; although she appreciated the beauty of what she saw it was not right for this. Shopping was always a good option with Rose, she loved clothes and if I threw a car in on top she would be ecstatic. Yes that was it; clothes and car shopping was the way to go, we could even play a game as we did it. And, dependent on a quick check with Alice about the conditions, I knew the perfect way to end it.

I spent the next day organising everything, I had called ahead to a couple of car dealerships and boutiques to ensure they would be open the following evening and I was just left with collecting a couple of credit cards before I had arranged to meet her behind the house. I saw Alice in the living room as I left; searching for Edward again, and waved as I passed. It must be frustrating being the one who had to see what was going to happen; while I missed my brother as much as everyone else I knew there was nothing that could be done and no decisions made before he contacted us. Caring for Rose presented a far more immediate and easily solved problem.

"She'll have a wonderful night Emmett, don't worry", I grinned in thanks. Sometimes having a psychic around was a serious help in boosting your self-esteem. As I walked through the kitchen I looked out of the window for her, she was in entirely her own world gazing towards the mountains. She had dressed casually; a pair of tight dark trousers complimented by lace up boots and a emerald green, silk shirt which complimented her hair perfectly. Going over the arrangements in my head one more time I glanced round the kitchen and spotted what I wanted; a tall vase was filled with lilies and I grabbed them before making my way out the door.

She turned towards me as the door slammed and I couldn't help but smile. We walked to meet each other and I held out the flowers for her as we met in the middle of the garden.

"For you, my lady", I bent to take her hand and kiss it lightly.

"Well thank you, sir. This is very thoughtful of you", she took the flowers from me and admired them. If there was anything Rosalie truly appreciated it was beauty. "You really should put them back before Esme misses them though".

"I could always buy her more", I didn't think before I said it and Rose's eyes darkened at me. Offering to buy other women presents while you are on date, even if they are your mother for all intensive purposes, is a bad plan. "I'll take them back in, and among the many things I plan on buying you tonight will be the most beautiful bouquet of flowers you have ever seen". She had turned away from me but I knew the routine; I took one of the hands clasped behind her back and pulled her round to face me and the puppy eyes came in useful once again.

"You big dummy", she hit me lightly with the flowers that were still in her hand but was careful not to break them. "Come on, let's get these back in their place and get on our way. I want to know what you have planned for me".

"Your wish if my command; come here angel", I pulled her towards me and planted a kiss on her heart shaped lips before throwing her lightly on to my back. The two of us made our way back inside and replaced the flowers before starting off into the forest.

"No driving?" she wasn't too happy about that.

"There will be driving, just not yet. I remembered how you had your eye on SSC so I booked us a test drive". The rest of my sentence was cut out by an inhuman squeal of excitement. "And I didn't want to drive there in case you wanted to drive it home too". More squealing, apparently my instinct of this had been right.

"When are we booked in for?" her breathe tickled my ear.

"Three hours time, but I thought we could go visit the Aston Martin showroom while we wait".

"No, stop", we were in the middle of the forest now and I slowed down before helping her off my back.

"What's wrong?" I held her hand close to mine. Surely I couldn't have done anything wrong.

"Nothing, I just don't want to go to the Aston Martin one, I don't like the engines, and anyways, I would much rather spend some quality time with you". She pulled me closer and as our lips touched my mind went completely blank; I hoped she would remember when the reservation is for.

_A/N: I love writing Emmett! This wasn't my ideal area to write about for him, it was all about Rosalie but I figured it would be a nice change from everyone fussing about Edward. Special thanks to twilightsun01, twifantasyfan and Molly025!_

_Rosalie will be next so you will get to find out what Emmett's surprise end of the date is!  
_


	10. Rosalie II

**Rosalie**

The past week might have been tough but last night had more than made up for it. Emmett's date had been thoughtful and a great deal of fun; we had only just made it to the test drive in time and I had immediately fallen in love with the car. Unfortunately they didn't have one in the colour I wanted, a bright crimson that would match my lips so we had been forced to run the rest of the way into the city where I spent entirely too long looking at Alexander McQueen dresses. I had known Emmett was bored but I couldn't help but try on at least ten and the sale's assistant had beamed with pleasure when I picked out four and Emmett immediately pulled out his American Express.

I was back in the house now, it was only a couple of hours before school and I was regaling Esme with my stories from the night.

"And you will never believe what we did next", we were sitting opposite one another and she smiled in a very motherly way at me.

"We went cliff diving!" I had not expected to enjoy this experience but in fact it had been fantastic. He must have found out the best places from Alice and we had spent several hours throwing ourselves from the top of a series of waterfalls into the water below. It would have been impossible had we been human, indeed we had nearly lost one of Emmett's toes when he accidently sliced it off on a rock on the way down but it had been found and I was still exhilarated by the experience. I suddenly understood why humans threw themselves out of aeroplanes and drove Harley's.

"You? Cliff diving?" Esme's laughter, which had been so rare the past couple of days rang out.

"I know! But really Esme it was amazing! I did totally ruin those lovely Prada pants Alice bought me but it was so worth it!" I had also just spent close to an hour combing algae out of my hair but it truly didn't matter. I had already sent Emmett upstairs to explain the disappearance of the trousers to Alice, she would already know but it was better to let him take her wrath.

"I'm glad you had so much fun my dear", she reached out to take my hand in hers and I couldn't help but smile. Esme and I may have little in common but we still loved one another deeply; after I had been turned there was a time when I was too scared to be around men, a reaction to the incident that had brought me into this life. It had only been Esme that I had felt safe with, despite Carlisle and Edward's kind faces and hearts it had been Esme who had been forced to explain the change to me and take me out hunting for the first time. She carried on regardless of my thoughts.

"You've been looking so upset since Edward left, I know it's caused tension between you and Emmett, you deserve to feel better". I looked down at my hands, still held by hers and gently pulled them away.

"Yeah, thanks Esme", I bent down to kiss her lightly on the side of her head. "Look, I should really go get ready for school, you know", I motioned down at my ruined outfit. "Find something to wear and everything". I slipped up the stairs and past Alice and Jasper's room where Emmett was telling them the story of the missing toe before shutting my own door firmly behind me.

Although I would never admit it to anyone in my family Edward's disappearance had not been the only thing on my mind recently. Along with him completely deserting us, for which I planned to punish him severely for on his return I had also been worrying about a far less important but far more irritating thing. It may be vain and obnoxious to admit it but I was incredibly beautiful and I liked it that way; I got attention wherever I went from men and women alike but recently that attention had been dwindling.

I knew it was just the excitement of the new girl but I had noticed far less attention from the boys at school since she had joined. It was not her fault, in fact, she seemed if anything completely unaware of the attention she was receiving and irritated by any she did notice but that only made me dislike her more. In any other situation it would not have bothered me but seeing as I already disliked her for forcing my brother to leave I took the stolen attention as a personal insult.

I was going to have to try to get my thoughts under control before he returned; it would be horrible to have Edward know how much one little girl was bothering me and I especially didn't want him to mention it to Emmett. Edward in particular already thought I was vain and conceited and this would just prove him right once more. Yes I was definitely going to have to have to do something and I knew exactly what would cheer me up.

I walked to my large closet and started throwing stuff out looking for the perfect outfit. Spotting a pair of flat, black over the knee boots I pulled them over my legs before searching out a thigh length black skirt, low cut shirt and long cardigan. This outfit could not fail but grab the attention of every boy at school. Was it petty? Yes of course it was. Did I care? Not in the slightest. I glanced at my watch; only half an left until we had to start the drive to school, I was going to have to remind Emmett – he was still in his ruined outfit from last night.

"Emmett", I didn't need to shout, just lightly spoke his name and I heard the door along the hall open and then close and he was here. He paused to take in my outfit; standing admiringly at the door.

"Wow", he didn't seem capable of coming up with a full sentence so I walked towards him and kissed him passionately. After a couple of minutes I pulled away and I heard him growl at me breaking the moment.

"I take it you like it then?" I spun on the spot so he could get the full image.

"You look absolutely fantastic", he smirked at me.

"Are you sure?"I spun once more; I knew I looked fantastic but it didn't stop me wanting to hear it again.

"It's absolutely perfect". He pulled me towards him and kissed me again. "I suspect I will be having to stop a large number of boys approaching you at school today". He smirked again and I worried that he understood more about the past week than I had thought. "You run downstairs and say goodbye to Esme, I know she enjoyed speaking to you earlier, I need to get changed".

"Of course darling, I will see you downstairs", I leaned in to kiss him again before darting out the room to show Esme my outfit. For the first time since Edward had left I was actually looking forward to the idea of going to school.

_A/N: I didn't really enjoy writing Rosalie as much here but I hope it ended up ok. Esme will be next but probably not for a couple of days, I've got uni work I should have really been doing for the past week that I have been putting off. Once again please, please review! It totally makes my day when those little numbers go up (double digits as of yesterday - woo!)_


	11. Esme II

**Esme**

Edward.

His name had been swimming round my mind since he had left and I couldn't get it out of my head.

Edward.

Edward.

Edward.

It didn't matter what Carlisle or the kids did to cheer me up I just couldn't function without the whole family here. I knew it was silly and even a little bit pathetic to be making such a fuss about his disappearance but unlike everyone else, I hadn't had the chance to see or speak to him before he left and it upset me. I was also worried about the Swan girl who was causing him so many problems. Although death and blood were as much a part of our lives as Carlisle's job or Emmett's humour, it had been nearly 20 years since the last slip and I wanted the family to continue that way.

I could never let Edward know how disappointed I would be if he failed though so I hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

I looked up from my seat in the kitchen to see Rosalie and Emmett making their way across the lawn. I knew they had been out on a date and Emmett had warned me of the possibility of them coming back with yet another new car but I couldn't see one in sight. In fact by the appearance of them they hadn't been anyway near any of the fancy shops he had planned on taking her; the two of them were a complete mess. Rosalie's hair was wild; knotted by the amount of debris in it and her clothes were nearly destroyed. Emmett was in a similar situation, his clean suit had been wrecked beyond belief and I couldn't help but laugh at them.

"Esme!" Rosalie's voice rang out as she walked through the door, a wide grin on her face. "You'll never believe the night we had!"

I couldn't help but laugh again, I had no idea what they could have possibly done to end up in that state and would not want to hazard a guess.

"Come here and tell me about it, love", I pulled out the chair across from me and she quickly sat down.

"Emmett, remember you promised to speak to Alice", she smiled slyly up at him and saw him droop slightly.

"Of course my dear, I can tell Jasper what happened while I am up there". As he walked through the kitchen and up the stairs I questioned Rose with my eyes.

"We ended up destroying those trousers Alice bought me; Em' promised to explain it to her", that clarified it. Although Alice seemed to accept that our clothes were one use only there were certain items she would get particularly upset about and the remains of the trousers my daughter was wearing were one of these items.

"So... tell me about your date then?" I knew the distraction would do me good and Rosalie's favourite topic always had been herself...

* * *

Two hours later I had heard a blow by blow account of Rosalie and Emmett's date and had got the kids off to school. This was the worst time of the day, being all alone meant that I had nothing to distract me from worrying about Edward.

I spent the majority of the morning pottering around the house tidying bits and bobs that were out of place and then made everyone's beds quickly. I popped my head into Edward's room as I walked passed but couldn't bring myself to walk through the door way and into his space. His room was immaculate, as always, and I glanced over his collection of books and music before turning away again and walking towards the piano downstairs.

I lifted the lid and slowly ran my fingers across the keys. I didn't realise how much I had missed the sound. Although all of us had some musical ability; indeed even I was an adequate player no one had the raw talent Edward did. I was certain he must have played before his change and had questioned him about it before but he did not remember. I sat down and tried to play my favourite composition of his, which he had lovingly named Esme's song but it didn't sound the same coming from me and I slammed the lid back down in frustration. I was going to need to do something, anything, to distract myself from this slump.

The clock on the wall told me it was half eleven already and I made a quick decision. Although neither of us ate I would go visit Carlisle for lunch at the hospital, it would be good for me to get out the house.

Quickly gathering a few bits and bobs I made my way out the door and into the garage. I didn't bother locking the door; it was entirely unnecessary in a town as small as Forks. In a moment of rashness I grabbed the keys to Edward's Volvo and started it up before beginning the short drive to the hospital.

When I arrived Carlisle was busy with a patient and I watched him as he delicately stretched the ankle of a teenage girl. He glanced up as walked through the door and I nodded before taking my place in the waiting room. I could see some of the nurses and other doctors turn their heads as they walked past me, some admiringly and some not so much. I couldn't help but sigh, one of the problems with marrying such a ridiculously handsome man was that women tended to hate me.

It didn't take him long to finish with his patient and I could see her face drop as he patted her on the head and walked towards me.

"Well this is a welcome surprise", he kissed me lightly on the cheek and I repaid the gesture.

"I couldn't stand spending any more time in the house so I thought I would come visit you for lunch", I winked as I said the last word and he laughed at me.

"Are you wanting to go out or should we just get something here and eat in my office?"

"Let's just get something here", I replied as the two of us turned towards the hospital cafeteria. Most of wives of doctors would have been disappointed with the cafeteria food but it didn't bother me, I wouldn't be eating it anyway. The large server glared at me as I paid for my food and I hoped that I had picked up a suitable selection. Meals had never been important to me as a human so I was often unsure of how much to get when I was out but apparently what I had was a lot. Oh well, this new fashion of anorexic teens was something I considered silly anyway, I always encouraged the girls to pile their plates high during school meals to make the other girls there feel it was acceptable to be hungry.

After quickly stuffing my sandwiches, crisps, apple and strange looking bar of chocolate in a bag we made our way back through the halls to my husband's small office.

"I am afraid I won't be able to stay long darling", he said as he pulled out a chair for me and I slipped in.

"I didn't think you would, I was thinking of going into town this afternoon anyway and getting some stuff".

"Anything in particular?" his eyes glanced up at me and their intensity dazzled me.

"Not really, I know Jasper is wanting a book that had just come out on the Civil War, supposedly there are a couple of chapters on the battles he was involved in mentioned in it".

"That's nice... I'm glad to see you out and about my love", for not the first time in this life I was glad I could not blush.

"I'm sorry I've been such a mess this week", I leant over to touch his hand lightly. "It hasn't been fair on any of you; I know you have all been worried too".

"Don't be silly", Carlisle's never-ending patience was renowned in the family and I couldn't help but wonder once again about the conversation him and Edward had had before his departure. He had probably hoped to be chastised for his failures, something that was entirely beyond my gentle husband.

I could see him glancing nervously the clock on the desk and took it as a hint.

"You know I should really get going if I am going to make it to Seattle on time".

"You're going all the way to Seattle?" his look of concern was almost comical.

"Of course, you don't think I am going to be able to find that book in Port Angeles do you?"

"Well I suppose... just be careful, please?"

"I'm not a helpless human darling, I'm sure I can handle anything the city throws at me", I tried my best not to laugh.

"No, no, of course not, just be careful, ok? I don't want to have to come looking for you later tonight".

"You won't have to dear, I will be back by 9 this evening", I got up and pulled my jacket on before grabbing the uneaten bag of food, I could give it to some unfortunate homeless person I saw later. "I love you darling, now go out and save some lives", and with that I kissed him gently before heading out the door. Getting out the house had been good for me and I planned on continuing this way.

_A/N: I think this is my longest chapter so far so sorry if it runs on a bit. Esme's just so caring she wouldn't stop worrying about Edward and I couldn't shut her up! Once again thanks for the reviews guy, keep them coming - they're like my own personal brand of heroin (sorry I couldn't resist). Next up is Carlisle and after that back to Alice and the return of the prodigal son! _


	12. Carlisle II

**Carlisle**

The room seemed very quiet after Esme had left. I felt guilty, I knew that my glances at the clock and hurried her away but one of my patients was due in at half twelve for a check-up and I couldn't miss it, despite the fact I wanted to spend more time with my wife. It was good to see her out and about, she had been so low the past week I had considered taking serious action and buying her another island, although it did mean I would have to come up with another name; Isle Esme had hardly been original.

Slipping my white coat back on I made my way slowly back to the ER. Apparently they had managed quite well without me; I could see two of the interns dealing with a very drunk man who appeared to have lost one of his shoes and was glad I had missed it. After checking in with them quickly and letting them know where I would be I had made my way to the front desk to wait for my patient.

* * *

The house was silent when I finally made it home and I was slightly relieved to have the place to myself for a while. My week long act was beginning to grate on me and it would be a relief to sit down on my own for a while and simply think of my missing son.

As I opened the door I felt someone else was in fact there, though in complete silence. So much for my alone time...

"Carlisle?" Alice's tinkling voice rang out, filling the house with noise.

"I'm here, Alice", there was no point in calling out, really. She would have known it would be me the moment I had decided to leave the hospital.

Her small form walked slowly through from the living room and she walked towards me; I opened my arms and cradled her. I was immediately back in the role of father and if anyone needed it right now it was Alice. The pressures of having a special gift such as hers had been more apparent than usual this week. Although we had all avoided asking her again when Edward would return and what the outcome of the situation would be we had all slipped up at some point.

"Is everything alright my dear?" I looked down at her tiny, heart shaped face and her large amber eyes up at me.

"I don't know... I just don't know anymore. Everything is so confused; one minute he is back, the next she is dead, the next we are all up in Denali with him. Until he makes a decision I just cannot know what will happen", her whole expression showed her disappointment at herself.

"You're doing your best you can Pixie, as soon as he makes a decision you will know it".

"I know but it isn't just him to worry about, is it? I've been checking up on everyone; Jasper, Emmett, Rose, you and Esme even the Swan girl in case that helps, and let me tell you it's not easy to get a truly accurate vision of a girl I've never even spoken to. If things don't get better I might befriend her for myself just so I can get a better read on her!"

I looked incredulously at her.

"What? She seems nice enough and if I can just chat to her for five minutes it will make my life so much easier", she huffed and pulled away from me crossing her shoulders across her front.

"I wasn't going to tell you off little one, I worried that we are putting too much pressure on you, it isn't often any of us befriend a human", I pulled her towards me again and felt the tension leave her body.

"See!" instead of calming her I had managed to rile her up even more and I was confused as to why; surely I hadn't said the wrong thing. "I should have known you would say that". Her voice was mournful.

"Where's everyone else?" I tried to subtly change the subject.

"Esme still isn't back from Seattle", her eyes glazed over slightly and she smiled. "I was she had decided to go before I went to school; by the time she decided I couldn't have got away with skipping to join her and everyone else is out cliff diving again; Jasper wanted to see what it is like. He's going to love it".

"When will they be back?" I tried to keep her focussed on questions she could find the answer to.

"Esme is on her way now but is going to get stuck in traffic so she won't get here till twenty to nine and the others will get disturbed by hunter's at quarter past eight and come back. They should all be back around the same time".

"Well, we have a couple of hours until then, what do you want to do?"

She looked around thoughtfully before settling her eyes on the sofa.

"Do you think we could just watch television?" she asked meekly. "Just sitting with someone who isn't going to look at me waiting for answers would be nice".

The two of us sat down and I put an arm around her tiny frame as she flipped through channels before settling on a science fiction film I had not seen before; Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus and we sat in silence as the opening credits ran through and the action began.

"Oh", her voice rang out just as the giant shark jumped out of the sea and clamped it's huge mouth over a flying plane.

"Is everything ok?" I muted the television and turned towards her.

"Yes, yes, you can turn the volume back up. Tanya has decided to talk to Edward about what is going on and maybe proposition him again; she hasn't decided on that part yet".

"And I suppose his answer will be the same as last time if she finds the courage?" Edward's dismissal of Tanya while to be expected had caused a slight rift between us and the Denali's and I was glad it seemed to have been forgotten.

"Naturally, he adores her but I honestly don't know if he will ever find that special person. Sometimes I have visions of him in the future with a smile I have never seen before but it is definite. He, or she, needs to make some decisions before they are brought together. I don't even know what she looks like".

"I trust Edward will find his mate eventually, with or without our help", I looked pointedly at her.

She stuck her tongue out and pulled the remote from my hand and turning up the volume once again. We fell into a comfortable silence for the rest of the film. As the credits began to roll she tensed once again.

"Esme is on the outskirt of town and the others are on their way as well". I turned to ask her how long they would be but her eyes were still unfocussed.

Suddenly she jumped from the sofa, throwing me off in the process.

"Edward", her voice was truly happy for the first time in over a week. "He's coming back".

_A/N: I know, I know, I am so evil. I am so sorry, especially to twilightsun01 who I know is looking forward to Edward's return - next chapter I promise! Reviews please!_


	13. Alice III

**Alice**

I barely had time to double check the vision before Esme walked through the door laden with bags of books, fabrics and clothes. She walked round into the kitchen to the sight of me jumping up and down in circles around Carlisle.

"Edward's coming back, Edward's coming back", I bounced over to circle her as well. She laughed at me.

"When did she figure this out? Why didn't you call?" she didn't bother asking me I was too excited bouncing round the room and peeking out the windows; though I knew Jasp', Emmett and Rosalie would not be back for another five minutes and Edward and hour and twenty minutes after that.

"Just a few moments ago, it was quite a scene; she threw me off the sofa in her excitement", he laughed with her.

I didn't hear the rest if their conversation but continued by bouncing and singing up the stairs to quickly change my clothes. Looking down I realised how badly the past week had affected me; I was wearing a badly fitting pair of jeans I had never seen before along with what appeared to be one of Rosalie's t-shirt which was huge on me. I quickly pulled it all off and started again grabbing a set of plain pants and camisole along with leggings and a pale blue dress that was far too summery to wear in public around here.

Only three minutes until the others get here. I quickly dragged a brush through my short tufts of hair and ran back downstairs. Esme and Carlisle were sitting on the sofa hand in hand and I was glad to see the tension that had been so evident in their bodies had vanished.

"You look nice, sweetheart", Esme shifted so I could slip in beside her.

"Thank you", we didn't say anything, simply enjoying the pressure leave the house. When the others got back moments later they found us in exactly in the same position and as I caught Jasper's eye as he walked in and smiled at him. He returned the smile with a questioning look, reflecting my feelings of relief and contentment back at me.

"He's on his way", I stood up and moved towards Jasper to hold him. He smiled at me as I slipped under his arm. I wanted desperately to kiss him; the relief allowing me to open myself to him but I was interrupted.

"Edward's coming back?" Emmett caught on slightly after everyone else as usual.

"He'll be here an hour and fifteen minutes, maybe faster; I can't see any police on his route so he will probably be speeding".

Emmett whooped and pulled Rosalie up into his arms spinning her round. I had been so distracted by their and Edward's return I hadn't noticed the state they were in. What the heck had they done to their clothes?

Emmett was in much the same state he had been when he returned this morning. The majority of his clothing ripped and missing his shoes entirely. I scowled when I realised he was wearing an expensive shirt I had picked out for his presentation in English in a couple of weeks time. Rosalie at least had taken my warning about clothes seriously although she looked slightly like a drowned cat, a very beautiful drowned cat but a drowned cat nonetheless. She too was shoeless although she held a pair of old trainers in one hand. Besides that she has wearing a pair of cut off jeans that hadn't been popular since the early 90s and a t-shirt that must have been even older.

Compared to the other two Jasper looked like some kind of Greek god. His khaki's had ripped above the knee of both legs and all the buttons had come off his shirt exposing a tight black t-shirt below. Not that it mattered how good he looked, none of them were in suitable clothing to welcome Edward home.

"Upstairs, all of you. It's going to take at least an hour to make you lot look presentable", I pointed the three of them up the stairs.

"You too", I turned to Esme and Carlisle who looked dumbstruck. "We will not be celebrating Edward's homecoming in anything less than our finest". No one moved; apparently unconvinced by my orders.

"NOW!" I couldn't help but stamp by foot and knew I looked like a petulant child.

Jasper disappeared first and the rest of them followed.

I ran up to mine and Jasper's room and could hear showers running throughout the house. I banged on the door as I walked past Rosalie and Emmett's room.

"Don't even think about it! You won't be ready before he gets back".

"But Alice", Emmett's voice whined through the door.

"If I can't then you can't". I heard him kick something across the room.

Pulling the door open to my own room I found Jasper standing in exactly the same state he had been downstairs.

"Did you really mean that?" he sidled towards me and I kissed me lightly on the neck.

"Yes", I growled the words, lightly running one hand over his chest. He was trying his best to convince me; sending his own lust through me.

"Jasper", it wasn't a statement, or even a question, I looked up at him.

I tried desperately to get my head together.

"Get in that shower now Jasper Whitlock", I turned and made my way over to the wardrobe; the only thing that could distract me at the moment.

I sensed him sag slightly behind me before making his way to our en-suite.

"Later my love, I promise". I darted over quickly to kiss him.

"Later", he echoed my words.

He turned and shut the door behind him and quickly the sound of running water rang out from behind the door. I took a minute to glance forward again just in case. Edward was still on his way here; he was going above the speed limit and would be less than an hour now. I was going to have to hurry everyone.

I quickly walked into mine and Jasper's shared wardrobe and ran my fingers over each of the drawers and rails to pick out the right things. I came across his outfit first and pulled out a pair of slim cut jeans followed by a checked shirt and cowboy boots; very southern gentleman before finding a camisole dress for me.

Just under an hour later and everyone was ready and waiting. All we needed was Edward. When I knew he was only moments away I had ushered everyone outside and moments later we heard a car pull on to the drive. He was playing loud heavy metal music and I smiled, there was music in the house again, Edward was back.

_A/N: I felt so mean about leaving you in the lurch earlier that I wrote this (it is now just after 3am so kudos for me for even staying awake!) not that this is much better; next time will be picking up from Midnight Sun again back at school and Edward will be back properly. Thanks for reading guys!_


	14. Jasper III

**Jasper**

"It's going to be okay", Alice breathed out as we made our way into the cafeteria. I had one hand lightly holding her elbow and guiding her through the crowds as she searched constantly for any hint that Edward was less than alright doing this. He seemed to be holding up well so far but I knew how quickly vampires could snap.

Emmett and Rosalie were in front of us; him filled with a sense of purpose while Rosalie was less than impressed with having to act as a babysitter for her brother.

Edward's voice piped in from within the middle of our severely squashed group, "Of course it is", he was the most unimpressed with the procession Emmett and Alice had organised; I had been against him returning at all. At heart I was still a military man and I knew fine well that the best thing to do now was get the heck out of dodge. Edward disagreed, he thought the best course of action was to return to school as usual and then leave in a couple of weeks if necessary and, seeing as it was his mess, we had all agreed.

"She's not here year, but the way she's going to come in... she won't be downwind if we sit our regular spot."

"Of course we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine".

I didn't bother to get involved in their discussion. It was highly frustrating knowing that whatever my opinion it would be seen or heard before I spoke out about it instead I pulled out Alice's seat, earning a thankful glance before her gaze fell back to Edward.

"Hmm", she wrinkled her nose in thought. "I think you're right".

"Off course I am", he muttered, ever sure of himself. Actually I almost felt for him at the moment. I was so used to being the focus of attention I probably felt for him more than anyone else. He must have been aware of where my mind was drifting because he turned to look at me. I couldn't help but grin at the chagrin on his face.

_Annoying, isn't it?_

He turned back from me with a grimace and he began scanning the thoughts of those in the room for anything the four of us had missed the previous week. Apparently it was slow work so I took Alice's hand under the table and distracted myself by drawing small images on the palm of her hand.

Edward remained tense and deep in conversation for several moments.

"Anything new?" well, someone had to ask, why not me?

"Nothing... She... must not have said anything".

My surprise was amplified by the rest of my family but we hid it well although Alice's slender eyebrows rose up into her fringe.

"Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are. I bet I could have frightened her better than that", Emmett's chuckle was infectious and I felt a smile play across my lips. "Wonder why...?"

"We've been over that. I don't know".

That had nearly been the tipping point for me. Not only was Edward very likely to make a spectacle of himself by acting like a creep around this girl but he also had no clue as to what she was thinking. Idiot boy.

Calm down Jasper, there is nothing you can do about this now just focus on getting through the rest of the day

"She's coming in", Alice murmured and I felt Edward's resolve intensify. "Try to look human".

"Human, you say?" Emmett held up his right fist and I could see a perfectly formed snowball in his palm and his eyes were on me. I was preparing to protect myself from the tiny missile he had formed with his fist when he quickly flicked it at Alice. It was unnecessary to protect her, she flicked it lightly and it flew across the room before cracking a brick in the wall.

"Very human, Emmett... Why don't you punch through a wall while you're at it?" Rosalie was scathing but not angry, under her unimpressed demeanour I could sense her humour. He turned to her a smiled.

"It would be more impressive if you did it, baby".

I went back to drawing on Alice's hand as she began scanning again and I felt Edward's curiosity peak as the Swan girl stood in the queue for food, nothing bad there. I kept part of my mind on him though as I let the rest daydream of kicking Emmett's ass later in a snowball fight.

Just as I felt a change in him, a movement away from curiosity and towards a protective worry Alice elbowed him, bringing him from his concentration on the small group at the other end of the dining hall from us. I saw him clench his teeth at whatever wordless message had passed between them.

"Ease up, Edward", Emmett tried to relax him once more and I concentrated on using my own special gift to keep the situation light. "Honestly. So you kill once human. That's hardly the end of the world". That wasn't what I was going for but was true nonetheless. It didn't seem to help Edward's mood though.

"You would know", Emmett laughed at him.

"You've got to learn to get over things. Like I do. Eternity is a long time to wallow in guilt".

Just then Alice tossed the small handful of ice she had been hiding in the hand I was not holding at Emmett. He blinked in surprise.

"You've asked for it", he leaned across the table and shook him head sending tiny bits of ice all over Alice, Edward and myself.

"Ew", Rosalie cringed began wiping the quickly re-cooling water from her face, while Alice protected herself from any further onslaught with tray.

She had timed it perfectly of course, I could feel interest directed at us and knew this had all been planned for the Swan girl, my smart pixie. It was quickly diverted when Edward turned to glance at her and we all fell back into silence. It was not uncomfortable or unusual; there was little of interest we could discuss while surrounded by people. Usually everyone was too focussed on me to gossip anyway.

As the lunch bell sounded we remained in our places, awaiting Edward's decision.

"I.. think it's okay", I heard and felt the worried edge to her thoughts. "Your mind is set. I think you'll make it through the hour".

"Why push it, Edward?" surely it was better he just went home, it was what they would make me do in a similar situation. "Go home. Take it slow".

"What's the big deal?" Emmett took the role of devil's advocate. "Either he will or he won't kill her. Might as well get it over with, either way".

"I don't want to move yet", Rosalie whined, unhappy that her opinion had not been heard yet. "I don't want to start over. We're almost out of high school, Emmett. Finally!"

I watched him, trying to discern his thoughts through his emotions. I wanted to speak out again but I knew he would never listen to any of us anyway, well maybe with the exception of Alice. After a torrid of emotions he ended once again on curiosity, it was going to get us in serious trouble.

"No, Rose, I think it will be okay. It's firming up. I'm ninety-three percent sure that nothing bad will happen if he goes to class". Ha, I couldn't help but be amused. Apparently his interest in her was going to keep her alive.

"Go to class", he ordered as he pushed away from the table. Despite his ability he was still a child, putting his interest in this girl before the rest of the family. The last thing he heard from my mind before he slipped round the corner to his class was a loud _IDIOT. _

_A/N: Sorry it has been a little while since my last update, my laptop completely died so I lost all my notes etc on what I wanted to do and then had to borrow my little brother's laptop to write this up. I know it isn't my best chapter, i had wanted to go back and add some more bits that were specific to Jasper but there was so much talking I got over my word limit quickly. Anyways, what I wanted to say was sorry for the wait and the horrible state of this chapter (I may even rewrite it but don't have the energy now), still please let me know what you think! Criticism makes me a better writer!_


	15. Emmett III

**Emmett**

I let go of Rosalie's hand and opened the old doors of the cafeteria, she frowned but understood. It was up to Jasper and I to make sure nothing happened to the family. I had taken my place at the front, leading Edward in who was watched by Jasper while Alice scoured her visions for any chance of something going wrong.

"It's going to be okay", Alice reassured us, but it didn't stop me looking quickly round at Edward, alert for any change in expression or his eye colour.

"Of course it is", he grumbled thanklessly. He may not be worried but I certainly am, I know what's like to smell someone you can't resist and, well, I didn't...

Human blood always sings to us, but, maybe just once in our very long lifetimes, we bumped into someone who smells irresistible and I didn't understand how Edward thought he had any chance of preventing what was only natural to us.

"She's not here yet, but that way she's going to come in... she won't be downwind of us if we sit in our regular spot", Alice whispered so only we could hear.

Well that was a relief, at least one thing was in our favour. And we especially didn't want to draw any extra attention to ourselves at the moment.

"Of course we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine."

I waited for Rosalie to sit before slipping in next to her and putting my arm around her, apparently the new girl was getting old because the majority of the senior boy's were once again staring at my wife.

Alice's eyes finally focused back on the present and she looked at Edward in slight shock, her nose wrinkling in surprise.

"Hmmm... I think you're right."

"Of course I am", he muttered as confident as ever as his eyes drifted over the rest of the student body, hearing something entirely different from anyone else.

I kept one eye on him, just to be sure as I played lightly with Rose's hair. Occasionally I moved around some of the food in front of me but none of us spoke, everyone was too tense about the moment _she_ walked through the cafeteria doors.

I had a plan though.

There was a small snowball sitting in my hand, kept from melting from the heating by the coldness of my hand. I planned to throw it Edward when she came in, maybe distract him before he went for her neck. Of course just thinking of it now may well have given the game away... I just had to hope he had been paying too much attention to someone else.

I was tempted to warn Rose but I was worried if she knew she would be that concerned about her hair it would give the game away, so instead I simply looked at her for a while, memorising her face before she got mad at me, as she no doubt would, later today.

She was fiddling with her food, moving the horrible looking macaroni around the plate with care, even her hands were beautiful, her nails clean and white and long, milky fingers. She was wearing a charm bracelet I had bought her many years ago, the mid sixties if I remembered rightly and it fell beautifully round her wrist, sparkling even in the poor lights in here.

"Anything new?" Jasper interrupted my thoughts and I looked up to Edward. It had been one of our big worries in the past week, although we had not heard any Edward had come back convinced that he had behaved oddly enough with Bella Swan last week that she must have told someone about it.

"Nothing..." he looked confused, something new on him. "She must not have said anything."

I couldn't help smile, after all his insistence that he had scared her and here she hadn't mentioned it to anyone.

"Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are. I bet I could have frightened her better than that." Hell if it had been me she wouldn't have come back, I couldn't help but think it with a chuckle. He rolled his eyes but I ignored him. It was another question about her though..."Wonder why...?" I mused aloud; any other human would have been running off to tell anyone and everyone what had happened.

"We've been over that. I don't know", he reminded me of a child, unused to not getting his own way. Not that I was particularly happy that he couldn't hear the girl's thoughts, it made staying inconspicuous far more difficult, but in any other situation I would be teasing him mercilessly about finally finding someone whose mind he couldn't get into, if all she wasn't killed maybe I would ask her how she was doing it...

"She's coming in", Alice murmured and I saw Edward tense. "Try to look human".

I took that as my signal and held up my right fist, slipping my left hand out of Rose's. I knew there was very little chance of my plan working but I knew I had to try. I kept my gaze on Jasper before quickly chucking the ice directly at Alice.

She flicked it away easily, not even turning to look at it, across the room and straight into the opposite wall where it shattered, taking out a small part of the wall too. A couple of nearby humans began looking round to find out who had thrown it so I quickly looked the other way, but no one looked as far as us.

"Very human, Emmett... Why don't you punch through a wall while you are at it?" Rosalie's voice was tense and cutting. Damn, no matter what I did I always got in trouble for it, I just had to hope I could butter her up enough that she wouldn't stay mad at me for long.

I turned to look at her, trying to put on my best apologetic face.

"It would look more impressive if you did it, baby", I grinned at her then tried to go in for a kiss but she batted my face away, she was smiling though, mission accomplished!

I slipped my left hand back into Rose's as she began to rattle on about a holiday she wanted to take with Alice to Milan in a couple of months time. I took care to 'ummm' and 'ahhhh' at the correct points but it didn't make any difference, Rose's temper was slowly burning at both me and Alice, who was stuck in her visions trying to help Edward and ignoring my wife.

I glanced at Edward who was obviously concentrating on the new girl, I never knew a vampire could look ill but seriously, he was green.

_You look ill, bro_

Edward began to try and move his face into a more relaxed pose but I could still see the tension in his eyes, they kept moving, he was itching to turn to look at her. I turned back to Rosalie and was about to start agreeing with whatever she was saying now but I noticed Alice elbow Edward in the ribs and glance meaningfully at him. His teeth clenched at whatever she had said.

"Ease up, Edward. Honestly. So you kill one human. That's hardly the end of the world", I looked across at him, I had been hoping to help but his face fell.

"You would know"", he murmured, refusing to meet my gaze. I couldn't help but laugh, he looked so... what was the word? Emo.

"You've got to learn to get over things. Like I do. Eternity is a long time to wallow in guilt."

Thwack.

A tiny piece of ice flew out of Alice's hands and straight into my face. Damn pixie knew how to throw.

"You asked for it", I let go of Rose's hand a stood up to lean across the table. My hair was still filled with ice, kept from melting completely by my body temperature and I began to shake my head to a chorus of 'ewwwws' from both the girls. Alice laughed and we all followed suit, even Rose who was trying to check her hair at the same time. I winked across at my little sister, knowing she had planned this and she responded by giggling further and holding up her lunch tray as a shield.

I took a quick glance at the Swan girl who was sitting across the room from us, and as Alice had know, downwind of us. She was gazing at us but quickly dropped her eyes as Edward turned to look at her.

I turned back to Rose but kept my ears on what was being discussed, vampiric hearing can be a curse and a blessing, I had heard some things you should never hear but at the same time it made keeping an ear to the ground much easier.

Jessica Stanley was pointing out Edward's staring problem to her.

"He doesn't look angry, does he?" her voice was quiet, obviously not wanting to be overheard by the rest of her table. I was a little bit disappointed, apparently Edward had given her the heebie jeebies last week, less ammunition to use against him.

In the corner of my eye I saw Jessica look up towards us, straight at Edward who was still staring straight at them, jeez, the guy needed to get some tact. He really was clueless, I only hoped he wasn't about to change his mind and decide to kill her.

Jessica turned back to the small girl, "no, should be he?"

"I don't think he likes me", she lent her head down on her arms, her long dark hair fanning out to create a shield between her and us. Well, maybe she was more on the ball than I had credited her.

I risked a glance at Edward but he was still entirely focussed on the two of them so I decided to leave him to it. I turned back to Rose and smiled at her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. I could quite happily sit and watch her for the rest of lunch.

Too soon lunch ended and the rest of the student body was walking away, all of us watched Edward to see what he was going to do. I glanced at Alice, we needed to know what was going to happen here, at least from Edward's current mindset.

"I... think it's okay", she was hesitant, all of us know how subjective her vision are and how easily Edward could change his mind when he was alone with the girl again. "Your mind is set. I think you'll make it through the hour."

Think... way for bolstering his confidence Alice. Not that I cared either way but Rose would be upset if we had to move again.

"Why push it, Edward? Go home. Take it slow."

I couldn't help but smile at Jasper's words and the slight smugness in them. We had said the same to him many times.

"What's the big deal? Either he will or he won't kill her. Might as well get it over with, either way."

Rose glared at me under he long dark eyelashes, as I knew she would. "I don't want to move yet. I don't want to start over. We're almost out of high school, Emmett. _Finally_."

I took her hand and raised it to my mouth, kissing it lightly before mouthing an apology to her, she batted me away again but was smiling sweetly.

"No, Rose, I think it will be okay", Alice's eye's were still glazed but she sounded more comfortable with her assessment. "It's firming up. I'm ninety-three percent sure nothing bad will happen if he goes to class."

All I could think for Christ sake get it over with.

Suddenly he pushed himself away from the table. "Go to class", and with that he was out the door.

English was uneventful, although I did get a bit worried when I saw Alice leave her own class and cross towards the science building but the lack of screaming in the halls suggested that it hadn't been too catastrophic though.

I meandered slowly down the hall and stood outside Spanish to wait for Eddie, in a strange way I couldn't wait to hear what had happened.

_How did it go?_

He walked straight up to and headed into the class.

"Nobody died", he murmured low enough so only we could hear.

_I guess that's something. When I saw Alice ditching at the end, I thought..._

I gave him a quick rundown of my view of her running across the courtyard, my indecision about whether to follow her or not.

"I hadn't realised it was that close. I didn't think I was going to... " his eyes were wild and I couldn't help but feel for him. "I didn't see that it was that bad."

_It wasn't. Nobody died, right?_

"Right. Not this time", his mouth was still tight.

_Maybe it will get easier._

"Sure". This wasn't getting us anywhere.

_Or maybe you will kill her._

I shrugged for effect.

_You wouldn't be the first one to mess up. No one would judge you too harshly. Sometimes a person just smells too good. I'm impressed you've lasted this long._

"Not helping, Emmett."

_I know when it happened to me..._My mind slipped back to that night, it was not long after I had been turned and I was on an errand for Rose. It was a country lane, shadowed by apple trees, the smell of their fruits permeating the air. I had barely noticed her as I crossed the ridge, she was pulling dry sheets down from between the trees, it would have been an uneventful night had a light breeze not crossed my face...

My mind was so caught up in the taste, the smell to notice Edward had jumped to his feet.

"Esta bien, Edward?" Senora Goff looked surprised by his sudden movement.

"Me perdona", he managed to mumble as he made his way for the door.

"Emmett – por favour, puedas tu ayuda a tu hermano?" I nodded and followed him out, all the way out the building to the far side. When I finally caught up with him I clapped my hand on his shoulder which he removed quickly.

"Sorry, Edward", I hadn't meant to make him so uncomfortable.

"I know", he was taking deep breathes in, trying to clear his mind in a way startling similar to the way a human would.

"Is it as bad as that?" I tried not to think of my own experiences, knowing it was not helping him.

"Worse, Emmett, worse."

_Maybe..._

"No, it would not be better if I got it over with. Go back to class, Emmett. I want to be alone."

I backed away, it was rare that Edward snapped at anyone and he obviously needed the space, maybe he would talk to Carlisle later tonight.

I made my way back to class trying to come up with the most embarrassing reason he could have to leave. Bowel problems? Fainting fit? Nothing seemed quite good enough...

_A/N: I apologise profusely I haven't updated in so long. I still do not have a new laptop and it is making writing incredibly difficult I do promise I will not allow 4 months to wrack up between updates again. Hope you enjoyed it. _


	16. Rosalie III

**Rosalie**

I swung the cafeteria door open and revelled in the innumerable eyes cast in my direction. That new girl wasn't all that, some of the boys in her year were still following her around like lost puppies but the majority had come back to me. I flicked my hair over my shoulder and made eye contact with one particularly weedy looking member of my year, giving him enough fuel for his fantasies for the next month before Alice's voice brought me back to earth.

It's going to be okay", I turned to glance at her, ready to help her across the room if she was too distracted by her visions but Jasper had her hand in his. Since Edward had turned into such a child again I had found myself far more forgiving for the rest of the families trespasses, all my annoyance was being funnelled straight at him.

I was not happy about the fact he was in school today, it was a stupid idea. He should have just stayed at home, then we wouldn't have to worry about what would happen if everything went wrong. I _so_ did not want to have to move again.

"Of course it is", he grumbled from the middle of the group. If it hadn't been so ridiculous I might have laughed at how everyone had set themselves up. We looked like a teenage gang.

"She's not here yet, but the way she is going to come in... she won't be downwind if we sit in our regular spot." Alice's voice was barely above a whisper but I heard it and began, with Emmett, to lead us all across the room, grabbing a couple of trays and unappealing looking meals on route.

"Of course we'll sit it our regular spot, Stop it, Alice. You're getting on my nerves. I'll be absolutely fine", I tried to stifle a very unattractive snort of laughter at Edward's comments. I was stuck somewhere between amusement at the golden boy's problems and general annoyance and him and the situation.

I slipped in and sat against the wall while Emmett plopped down next to me on one side and Jasper on the other. No one spoke as we waited for Alice's vision to clear up, when it did her face wrinkled up in surprise, seriously, it was not an attractive look.

"Hmmm... I think you're right."

Awesome just what he needed to be told. Stupid risk-takers.

"Of course I am", his eyes began to drift over the students, obviously searching for any new news. I could feel myself slowly getting angrier and angrier at him. Why did he always think he was right?

Emmett's hand drifted up my back and into my hair and I leant back into him before picking up my blue plastic fork and beginning to move the macaroni I had grabbed around my plate, seriously, it looked disgusting. Even I could tell that this was some unpleasant stuff.

"Anything new?" Jasper's voice cut through the silence at the table. I glanced up to see his eyes on Edward. This was the only reason I hadn't removed both of Edward's legs this morning to prevent him coming, well that and the fact Alice had told me if I did he would get revenge by taking the engine of my new Cadillac DTS, something I was not willing to risk.

"Nothing..." his voice was incredulous. "She must not have said anything."

"Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are," Emmett chuckled. "I bet I could have frightened her better than that... Why wonder why?"

"We've been over that. I don't know", I grimaced. Yet another problem with this girl, not only does it look like he is going to kill her but he doesn't know what she is thinking. This whole situation is freaking ridiculous.

"She's coming in," Alice murmured and Edward's whole body tensed. "Try to look human," she reminded him helpfully.

I wasn't aware he had anything planned until Emmett removed his hand from mine and began aiming a small ball of ice at Jasper. I might have got worried, knowing that he was not going to actually throw it at him but one of the bonuses of being married to the big lug, and I saw that only affectionately, was that he tended not to mess with me.

He flicked the ice straight at Alice's face which she deflected across the room and into the wall. Freaking fantastic.

"Very human, Emmett. When don't you punch through a wall while you are at it", seriously, that man had some of the stupidest ideas ever; ten out of ten for style but minus several million for good thinking.

I felt his hand in mine again and I turned to see his puppy dog eyes looking into mine.

"It would be more impressive if you did it, baby", he grinned, obviously expecting his half arsed compliment to have worked and leaned down to kiss me but I batted his face away. I way be smiling but that does not mean he is forgiven and a sex embargo was the only way to make sure he understood.

Deciding it was probably better if we looked slightly more normal and spoke rather than sitting in silence I began to talk about the trip to Italy Alice and I were organising for Esme in a few months time but I could tell no one was listening. Emmett at least was trying, he made occasionally noises of agreement but Jasper was too wrapped up in Alice who was too wrapped up in Edward's future who was, well lord only knows what Edward was doing. He had what I could only describe as a constipated look on his face.

"Ease up, Edward", Emmett interrupted my description of our itinerary. "So you kill one human. That's hardly the end of the world."

Maybe not for you my dear but by the looks on Edward's face that's exactly how he felt. It was stupid really, it wasn't like he hadn't killed before. In fact of the five of us at the moment I was the only one not to have slipped up at least once.

"You would know", well that was hardly fair. I stroked Emmett's hand lazily.

"You've got to learn to get over things. Like I do. Eternity is a long time to wallow in guilt."

Okay, well sometimes the things may dunderhead husband said did make sense.

Thwack.

A little bit of ice flew out of Alice's hand to hit Emmett right in the face. You could always trust her to get back at her brother.

"You asked for it", he let go of my hand and stood up, towering over us and began to shake his very wet hair across the table at her. Tiny bits of dirty ice flew everywhere, this was seriously bad for my hair. Alice laughed and everyone joined in, I tried to keep a look of amusement on my face but it was difficult when I was trying to get that stuff out of my hair.

I had just got the last piece out as Alice held her tray up as a shield, her renewed giggling affecting us all, or maybe that was Jasper projecting again.

Soon we all fell back into silence, Alice once again scouring her visions while Jasper sat with his eyes closed, a look of intense concentration on his face, he must be keeping an eye on Edward's emotions. The silence was off putting so I started talking again, not about anything in particular but for all their attempts to look human sitting together, not talking, was not going to be helping us.

I turned to look at Edward who was staring across the room, really, what did he think he was doing? If I cared enough I might have listened in to the conversation that was going on, the Stanley girl was whispering something about him into that girls ear but really I didn't see the point. Instead I waited until Emmett had his attention back on me and we spent the rest of lunch discussing a weekend away for just the two of us, lord know we could use some time away from this circus.

Eventually lunch ended and the hordes of humans began to make their way to their next classes and I gladly pushed the plate of foul smelling food away from me. I was about to stand up but glancing at Edward I knew he wouldn't appreciate it so instead we sat in silence, waiting for the bell to go.

Eventually Alice piped up. "I... think it's okay", her voice was hesitant. "Your mind is set. I think you'll make it through the hour."

"Why push it, Edward?" Jasper was the next to throw his two cents in. "Go home. Take it slow."

"What's the big deal?" now Emmett, god, what was this a family meeting. I decided to stay out of it. "Either he will or he won't kill her. May as well get it over with, either way."

Ok, no, now I was gonna have to get involved.

"I don't want to move yet. I don't want to stay over. We're almost out of high school, Emmett. Finally!"

"No, Rose, " Alice placed her hand over mine. "I think it will be ok. It's firming up. I'm ninety-three percent sure what nothing bad will happen if he goes to class." I wanted to shout at her that ninety-three percent was not enough but her attention was back with Edward.

His face was still vaguely constipated but after a moment it evened out. He had obviously made a decision, now we just needed to know if it was the right one.

_Don't be an idiot._

I tried to direct my thoughts straight at him but either he didn't hear or he didn't care because next moment he had pushed his chair back quickly and began walking away.

"Go to class", I hate being ordered around.

_A/N: Wow, might actually be back on a proper writing schedule, unfortunately I don't think it will last after the owner of the laptop I have borrowed returns so take advantage now! I find writing from Rose's pov kinda difficult so apologies if this is shorter than the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy it though and remember reviews make me write faster. Cuddles!_


	17. Esme III

**Esme**

Sometimes being the only person in a family without anything to do during the day can have some serious disadvantages. I'd been sitting in the kitchen for the majority of the morning unable to concentrate on anything other than the plight of my oldest child. I wiped the counter in front of me for what must have been the thousandth, totally unnecessary time – seriously, it wasn't like anyone had ever eaten there.

I got up and stomped my foot in frustration, something I would never have done if anyone had been here, but sometimes acting like a mum all the time could send a person over the edge. Straightening up I put down the wipe and took a deep breath. I couldn't sit here all day, I had to get out the house, do something.

I stood up and took a glance outside, I realised with a shock I had been so involved in my thoughts all day that I hadn't even taken any notice of the weather. It was grey, as usual, and slightly colder than it had been recently. I ran upstairs to change out of my house clothes and put on some khaki pants and a high necked jumper. Running downstairs I grabbed a pair of boots and had a quick look at myself in the mirror.

Dressing appropriately was a huge part of keeping ourselves under the radar, although most people accepted whatever we told them I always made the kids check before they went out that what they were wearing was acceptable. Alice was the worst, with her petite frame she could look anything from 15 to mid twenties but that changed hugely based on what she decided to wear. It could be quite a challenge to convince her to wear what she called 'kids clothes'.

At the moment I was still going for the young mother look, both Carlisle and I were pretending to be 29, older than either of us actually were but it was impossible to pretend to be any younger and have a medical degree so I went along with it. It did mean I sometimes had to find ways to make myself older looking though. Looking myself up and down I decided that what I was wearing was good enough and put on a thick fleece on top. It had been snowing the majority of the morning and although I couldn't feel the cold people were often suspicious if you didn't look affected by it.

Grabbing the keys to my Mercedes I popped out the door and began the short drive to the centre of town. I avoided the school for now, knowing that if I went anywhere near it I would be tempted to try and spy on what was happening. Instead I pulled in at the bank and meandered inside, careful to shiver slightly as I walked in.

Mrs Stanley was in her usual position behind the desk and smiled in her usual overly warm way when I came in. Humans' reactions to us were varied to say the least. Some became so overwhelmed by our beauty they seemed to be able to overcome the reaction to run while others never came close enough to us to react at all.

Mrs Stanley seemed quite capable of ignoring her natural aversion long enough to flirt with my husband and attempt to illicit gossip from me, something I wasn't sure whether it amused me or frustrated me.

I smiled as I approached the desk. "Mrs Stanley."

"Oh, hello Mrs Cullen, what can we do for you today?" I tried to ignore the sugary way she spoke.

"Oh, nothing much, I was just wondering if you could put this cheque into Carlisle's account for me?" I handed her his monthly pay cheque and she immediately began typing into the computer. Generally we avoided humans having anything to do with our accounts, generally preferring to do everything online but in a town as small as Forks, with only one bank, there was little option.

Faster than I expected Mrs Stanley was done and turned to smile widely at me again. "All done, now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, I think that's everything for today. Thanks," I made my way quickly out of the bank and jumped back into the car. What to do now? Sometimes I wished we actually had to eat so I had an excuse to go to the store, the idea of having actual cleaning or cooking to do during the day would certainly take up my time.

Instead I decided to visit Carlisle, I didn't visit my husband at work very often but it was always good to do, particularly to remind a couple of the nurses that he has a wife...

The drive to the hospital didn't take long, barely a minute later I was pulling into the car park at the hospital and I grabbed my jacket before making my way into the building. As soon as I entered I began holding my breath, as confident as I was now with my ability to deal with blood I did not see the point in taking any risk, I had long ago accepted that I was never going to be as controlled as my husband.

I walked straight to the reception area and was greeted by Martha, an elderly curse who had been moved to desk duty the year after we arrived and, after directing a couple to their waiting daughter, she pointed me in the direction of the emergency room to find my husband.

I sensed him as soon as I walked in to the room but my eyes were stuck on the floor, I always dreaded coming in here on the chance someone was badly hurt. I couldn't stop myself though when I heard his light footsteps moving towards me, I looked up quickly and his eyes met mine. I inhaled as the usual feeling of butterflies filled my chest, but I barely noticed the leftover scent of blood from earlier in the day, all I could think of was his golden eyes and the clean, musky smell that was his signature.

He moved just a little bit too quickly towards me and slipped his arms around me to hold me close.

"This is a lovely surprise," he pulled back and smiled down at me. The butterflies went again.

"I was going crazy at home thinking about everything," I whispered, glancing round to make sure no one was listening in, but we appeared to be on our own. "I just needed to get out for a while and I thought I would pop in and see you."

"Well, it's wonderful to see you nonetheless," Carlisle pulled at my hand and led me out of the emergency room and along the long corridor to his office.

"I don't have too long, I have a meeting in ten minutes but it won't take long. You can wait here, if you want," his face looked so earnest I almost agreed but I wanted to be home when the children got there so I shook my head in apology.

"I need to be there to find out how his day went," I explained and Carlisle nodded.

"I knew you would," he smiled at me. "I'm tempted to clock off early so I can too but this meeting can't be rescheduled."

"Don't worry; at least I get to see you now. And I will call you as soon as they get back to let you know what happened, or at least what I can get out of them," he smiled indulgently at my attempt to joke about our forever 'teenage' children.

We sat and talked until Carlisle had to leave for his meeting, although he was mindful to leave time to walk me to my car and too soon I was on my way back to the house, maybe I could pick up some flowers for the kitchen on my way back.

_A/N: Once again I have left far too long between updates and I can only beg for your forgiveness. I've been really busy with another story (Capturing Destiny - which is on my profile), university and generally being a little useless. I promise I will try harder in the future guys!_


	18. Carlisle III

**Carlisle**

My day at work was fraught with anxiety - every time I heard the squeal of wheels coming off the highway I expected one of my children to arrive and tell me he had left again, or worse be forced to deal with the carnage that we could so easily cause.

I nearly jumped for joy when Esme came to visit me, even if we did have to cut it short for that damned meeting with the superiors, they were trying to organise more cuts to the programs I had been running and I was determined to prevent them. And all the while I was still waiting for the whine of ambulances.

But it never happened, and eventually the clock clicked to four and I knew it was over. I had to stop myself from calling in and checking on him, he would not appreciate it. Edward spent so much of his energy trying to remain pure, to keep from the temptation of killing again and helping the others in the family. Jasper sometimes referred to him in private as the 'thought nazi' but we all knew he was doing it out of love.

In a rare show of self I clocked out quickly at five and quickly drove home.

The house was quiet when I arrived but everyone was there. I could hear Esme's footsteps moving towards the door to greet me, while Jasper and Alice watched tv. Edward was up in his room but had also begun walking downstairs towards me, I didn't even want to know where Rosalie and Emmett were.

I was hit by a wave of heat as I walked through the front door, warming me pleasantly and I sighed in satisfaction, it really was a wonder what humans could do these days.

"Good evening, Doctor Cullen," Esme whispered as she kissed me lightly on the cheek, and I heard Alice giggle from her spot on the floor.

She pulled away as Edward made his way down the stairs.

_Evening, son. _

He nodded at me but didn't say anything, apparently if I was going to get to speak to him I was going to have to take the initiative. I could see him roll his eyes at the thought.

"Edward," Alice called, her eyes still on the game in front of her. "You should hunt tonight, just to be safe. Carlisle can go with you."

"But I feel fine, Alice, I can't even feel the burn."

"Yes, you can't right now," she responded as she took her turn. "But you'll find tomorrow difficult if you don't. Trust me."

She must have been showing him the following day because he winced before nodding.

"Alright, you don't have to come with me though, Carlisle."

"I need to hunt anyway, it's no problem Edward," he frowned again at my obvious lie but didn't say anything, instead just put his shoes on and motioned me out the door. It was the first time we had been alone together since he had returned from Denali.

As we ran I thought over the conversation we had had the previous week, he may not be speaking but I wanted him to know I did not feel badly of him for his need to leave, in fact I felt guilty that I had encouraged him to go, I was worried he was thinking I did not trust him.

"No," his voice brought me out of my thoughts and I focussed on him as he ran, slowing so I could keep up with him. "That was what I needed. I might so easily have betrayed that trust, if you'd told me to stay."

"I'm sorry you're suffering, Edward, but..." I tried to think of the best way to explain my thoughts to him, Edward frequently took all of our thoughts out of context, but at the same time I wanted to make sure he understood my wishes. "You should do what you can to keep the Swan child alive. Even if it means you must leave us again."

"I know," he sounded so young, so concerned. "I know."

"Why did you come back? You know how happy I am to have you here," _all of us are. _"But if this is too difficult..."

I watched his face carefully in the darkness as he considered his answer.

"I didn't like feeling a coward," he admitted and I slowed down, him mirroring my actions. We were barely jogging through the darkness of the forest now.

"Better that than to put her in danger. She'll be gone in a year or two."

I tried to understand what was going through his head but he kept his face neutral.

"You're right, I know that."

_But you're not going to run, are you?_

His head dropped and he began to examine his shoes very carefully.

_Is it pride, Edward? There's no shame in-_

"No," he interrupted me. "It isn't pride that keeps me here. Now now."

_Nowhere to go?_

He laughed, but it was forced, more of a short snort than anything else.

"No. That wouldn't stop me, if I could make myself leave."

"We'll come with you, of course, if that's what you need," I tried to reassure him, he is my first son, I would follow him anywhere. "You only have to ask. You've moved on without complaint for the rest of them. They won't begrudge you this."

He raised one eyebrow and looked at me.

"Yes, Rosalie might," I laughed. "But she owes you. Anyway, it's much better for us to leave now, no damage done, than for us to leave later, after a life has ended," I hadn't meant it to come out so harshly and I could see him flinch at my choice of words.

"Yes," he voice sounded hoarse, and I realised he had already made his decision.

_But you're not leaving?_

"I should," he sighed.

But..."What holds you here, Edward? I'm failing to see..."

"I don't know if I can explain," I looked at him in surprise, we had offered to come with him, it would be no problem for us to find somewhere else. I gazed at him, wishing desperately that for once I could hear his thoughts so I could understand what was going on.

_No... I do not see. But I will respect your privacy, if you prefer. _

"Thank you. It's generous of you, seeing as how I give privacy to no one," I flinched slightly, worrying he had picked up on my desire to know what was going on his head at that very moment.

_We all have our quirks._

I laughed, thinking of my strange little family, while another part of my brain picked up on the scents of a small herd of deer a mile or so from our location.

_Shall we?_

"Let's," he said with a definite lack of enthusiasm, none of my family understood my preference for herbivores.

We both shifted to a hunting crouch and I allowed the scent to pull me forward, trying not to think of the fact I was due back at work in only a few short hours.

_A/N: Found getting into Carlisle's head a little difficult here, seeing as all the dialougue is straight from Midnight Sun I had some difficulty finding the link between how I wanted him to feel and what he actually says in the book. One of Alice's many big reveals to Edward next chapter, oh, and just so you know reviews are a perfectly acceptable way of prodding me to hurry up and continue!_


	19. Alice IV

**Alice**

Jasper pouted as I looked carefully at the board in front of me once more.

"Interesting."

"What is?"

I knew I was being a little cruel but I didn't care, I smiled sweetly up at him and without looking picked up the piece I needed and began moving it carefully. I could see him struggle to keep eye contact with me, be desperately wanted to check the move I was making and stay nonchalant at the same time, I didn't have the heart to tell him he was failing.

I waved the rook slightly in the air, as though making it dance before placing it down.

"Check mate," I smiled at him as his eyes immediately fell down and began taking in the board.

"You cheated," I kept smiling as he looked incredulously between me and the antique chess board between us.

"But why, my dear, would I need to cheat?" I whispered, grinning slyly.

"Because," he smiled at me and I melted a little, although he rarely smiled in public Jasper had the most beautiful smile in the world. If he had smiled like that at me at the start of the game I might have considered letting him win.

"Because you are a far better strategist than me, what with your years of experience, and no one else in the family, not even Edward, can beat you?" I plucked his speech from straight out his mouth and smiled again.

"You're a monster, you know that right?" he teased, his expression deadly serious but his eyes giving him away.

"I know, but you wouldn't have me any other way," I grinned as he lent forward and kissed me.

My vision clouded and instead of Jasper's face I saw Edward's flicker in front of me, I jumped slightly in shock. I couldn't tell where he was, I knew he was alone, his location jumping but his expression the same, a look of desolation across his face.

"Ally?" Jasper's worried voice came to me as my vision cleared.

"Sorry Jazz," I looked up at him, he had moved and was now cupping my cheek lightly, his usual look of concern on his face. Damn it, I had ruined a perfectly lovely moment yet again.

He smiled, obviously feeling my guilt and trying to reassure me.

"Everything okay?" he asked, carefully gauging my reaction as always. He must have felt my concern and the little bit of anxiety I had over Edward leaving. For some reason it just didn't feel right.

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, "I think Edward is leaving again..." a brief flash of the two of us sitting at the top of the stairs in discussion swept in front of me and was away again before I could fully register it. "But apparently I am going to talk to him about it first; maybe I can convince him to stay."

I lost Jasper again as a series of flickering, indistinct images appeared in front of me, Edward alone, Edward here, Edward in the forest, in a meadow, talking with someone, Bella Swan dead, Edward at home, playing music, smiling in a way I had never seen before.

"Ally? Ally? Is everything okay?" Jasper's voice came to me again.

"Of course everything is fine, silly," I reassured him, concentrating my emotions on my love for him to reassure him, a vain attempt to hide my mounting worry. "You should go get ready for school, there is no way you are going like that!"

I looked down at the ratty jogging bottoms he was wearing and frowned. I tried so hard with Jasper but sometimes he just refused to listen, some of his clothes I was okay with, I mean I had never complained about the cowboy boots and hat when we were in the bedroom but ratty jogging bottoms? I knew for a fact he had at least three new pairs sitting upstairs with the labels still on, why did he insist on wearing those old ones?

He must have seen my gaze, or felt my distaste because he sighed and kissed me lightly before running upstairs.

As always I had myself timed perfectly, it only took me a couple of seconds to get up to the third floor and perk myself on the top step. I heard Edward come through the front door moments later.

_You're leaving again. _I glared at him slightly, Edward and I were always close, he knew that him leaving would hurt me, and Esme, and Carlisle, and who would Jasper talk literature with? Or wrestle with Emmett? Even Rose might care, at least a little.

I looked up as I heard him sigh and saw the small nod I had known to expect. I sifted through my mind trying to work out where he was going but it was no use.

"I don't know where I am going yet," he whispered and my chest tightened.

_I want you to stay. _

He looked down at me and smiled slightly but shook his head nonetheless.

_Maybe Jazz and I could come with you. _

"They'll need you all the more, if I'm not here to watch out for them," I saw his resolve break slightly, allowing me an image of him hunting in the forest to the south, the timing was indistinct but it was definitely in the Olympic Peninsula, but then it disappeared again before it was fully materialized.

"And think of Esme," he continued, obviously deciding to ignore my vision. "Would you take half her family away in one blow?"

Yeah, because you leaving isn't going to upset her..._you're going to make her so sad._

"I know. That's why you have to stay."

_That's not the same as having you here, and you know it. _

"Yes. But I have to do what's right," if only you knew Edward.

_There are many right ways, and many wrong ways, though, aren't there?_

His confusion by my question was all I needed. I was immediately hit with a barrage of images, flickering and swirling, making it impossible for me to capture any long enough. Edward was ever present, but he was surrounded by shadows, indistinct forms until it settled on one. My brother was standing, shirtless in the bright sun of a small open meadow, his skin glittered, reflecting on to another figure, a human girl whose features I could not quite make out, who stood watching him with wonder.

Suddenly I was back, and I looked to Edward hopefully.

"I didn't catch much of that," he admitted.

_Me either. Your future is shifting around so much I can't keep up with any of it. I think, though..._

I stopped sending him words and instead sent him images of various moments I had seen in my vision involving him, I showed him alone, walking aimlessly, I showed him playing the piano and smiling, but they were not enough, so many were simply surrounded by mist...

"I think something is changing though," I spoke aloud, still going through various scenarios in my head, where would Edward feed next? When would he talk to Carlisle next? It was all still grey. "Your life seems to be at a crossroads."

He laughed, it was grim and tight, "You do realize that you sound like a bogus gypsy at a carnival now, right?"

Damn him, impulsively I stuck my tongue and glared.

"Today is all right, though, isn't it?" he sounded nervous, rare for my oldest brother.

"I don't see you killing anyone today," I assured him, quickly showing him the mundane day at school I had foreseen for all of us.

"Thanks, Alice," he smiled.

"Go get dressed. I won't say anything – I'll let you tell the others when you're ready," I promised, as I wondered how I was going to keep this from my husband.

I stood quickly and began running down the stairs, after the chain of events that had happened recently I needed a moment to myself before school started, _Miss you. Really. _I sent out to him as I ran down and jumped into Jasper's waiting arms.

Keeping my promise on the ride to school was particularly difficult, Jasper had barely managed to calm me down, one of the many useful side effects of a husband who can alter emotions, before we had to go to school so he was concerned, hovering rather protectively over the back of my seat.

Then again, maybe he was just trying to distance himself from Emmett and Rose who were sitting next to him. Sometimes having the power to see the future isn't quite so amazing, I certainly did not need to know that the two of them planned to meet in a janitor's closet after first period.

Edward was driving stiffly, he had not said a word in several minutes which was not helping my predicament, I had been hoping he might at least hint to it to everyone else but no such luck.

We parked easily, as always and I was waiting on Jasper getting out of the car when everything started to fall down.

The Swan girl had parked just after us, only a matter of metres away, I only realised when an image of Edward walking over to talk to her filled my mind. I turned in surprise, staring at him. He was a couple of steps away from us, as though he had stepped forward when he saw her, a look of worry on his face.

I moved my gaze to her and saw her examining the snow chains on her truck, an emotional look on her face.

Again an image of Edward moving forward to speak to her flashed before my eyes and I looked at her again, watching as she tried to negotiate the ice, maybe she could use Edward's help getting up to the school...

Suddenly a freight train of an image hit me, causing me to falter slightly on my feet, Tyler Crowley's van coming in to the car park too fast and sliding on a bit of ice, the huge truck moving swiftly across to crush Bella Swan.

An involuntary "NO!" coming from myself brought me back.

_Not her!_

I begged as Edward began to run forward...

_A/N: Jasper's point of view next and I suspect he is not going to be too pleased about what has gone down. On the plus side I have finally got round to doing some planning ahead and know roughly what is going to happen in the next ten chapters (go me!) although I am probably going to have to start messing around a bit with the order you get everyone's points of view, which I'm not too pleased with but it will mess up the timescale if I don't._

_Oh and in a totally unrelated piece of news I just finished my first multi-chapter fic, its called Capturing Destiny and is about Alice's mission to try and find Jasper when she first woke, would mean a lot to me if you guys would check it out. _

_Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween, treats for all that review (and tricks for anyone who doesn't, mwhahaha)  
_


	20. Jasper IV

**Jasper**

Alice had been tense since the end of her conversation with Edward earlier this morning; I could literally feel the waves of tension, pain and disappointment coming from her, and what was worse was I didn't have any idea what was wrong. I had tried to ask her, repeatedly, since she had come running downstairs and thrown herself into my arms but all she had managed was to mumble 'it's not my place to say'. So now I was trying to comfort her and be pissed off at Edward at the same time, obviously it was something he had said.

Maybe he planned on putting the girl out of her misery and killing her already, that would certainly upset Alice – her delicate nature didn't like the idea of anyone getting hurt. Then again, that Swan girl did look unnaturally fragile, like she was going to fall over and break, no wonder Alice liked her, she was always a sucker for anything with big doe eyes and sense of fragility. God I was lucky we couldn't have kids – I knew if she actually had the notion to think about she would want a gaggle of them.

It was funny how me and Alice worked, she was so small, warm and light, her emotions literally bowled me over when I first felt them, her hope and love in that moment was something I had never experienced before. And me... well, I was scarred, on the inside and out, while Alice's inner self was filled with light mine was a dark place I was desperately trying to move on from.

She also always saw the positives, in her mind there was no way Edward, or anyone, could kill someone without feeling guilt – I knew differently, sometimes it was be or be killed.

And now here we all were again, off to continue the charade of being teenagers at school. Rosalie and Emmett were in the back seat next to me and, honestly, I was surprised they weren't dry humping each other with the amount of lust that was coming off the two of them. Meanwhile Alice and Edward were in the front, both sending off pain, worry, a horrible cocktail that was nearly drowning me.

In a desperate attempt to distance myself from the two love birds next to me I moved myself closer to Alice, slinging my arm over her chair and stroking her arm lightly, I felt her body relax and lean in to me, she was incredibly stressed.

Edward felt stab of jealousy as I comforted Alice and for a moment I was shocked, it was rare for him to have any reaction to the fact he lived with three couples, besides occasional disgust, but it was immediately followed by a worthlessness I had never felt from him before. Was this what this new girl was doing to him? It was bad enough she could somehow block his ability to read her mind but if she was the root of these feelings then something would definitely have to be done – maybe we should just all move before this gets any worse. It would be a fight to convince Rosalie but there was no way I was taking any risks with Alice.

We pulled in to the school in plenty of time, as usual, all of us were considered to be perfect students, it was the only way we could get away with taking so much time off when it was sunny.

Edward stood by the car, apparently waiting for a glance of the girl, and Alice stayed with him while Rosalie, Emmett and I began making our way in to the school.

If I hadn't been paying so much attention to her I wouldn't have heard the tiny "no" that came from Alice's lips, I turned, pulling Emmett with me as some punk kid pulled into the car park too quickly and lost control on the ice.

It took me only a moment to calculate the trajectory of the truck; it was sliding straight towards the Swan girl and was going to easily crush her between it and her own aging truck. I quickly took a deep breath and then held it, the blood was going to be difficult to deal with without the smell of it invading my body.

It was only then I realised why Alice had said 'no', I saw in the periphery of my vision as Edward darted forward, his speed making him invisible to the many humans in the lot and push the Swan girl to the ground, his arm coming up to hold the truck off her and then dropping it to the ground.

Alice turned towards me, her eyes wide with panic, and I cursed loudly enough to make several of the students next to me turn round in shock, their eyes then focussing on the crash behind me.

Then the screaming started.

Alice darted up the stairs in the melee and came to stand next to the three of us.

"What the fuck did he just do?" Rose whispered in a low voice, not that it mattered, everyone else in the vicinity had begun running towards the two trucks.

"He just saved Bella Swan's life," Alice said, her eyes still on the scene in front of us.

"He might have just exposed us all," I said gravely, putting my arms around Alice in an attempt to reassure her.

"She knocked her head pretty badly," Alice's voice came again before pausing. "We need to go to class, and Emmett will need to fix the hand mark Edward has left in Tyler Crowley's van, I can't see anything other than that yet."

I examined her emotions for any fear but all I could feel was confusion and the same mix of worry and secretiveness she had in the car earlier.

Not that it reassured me, if there was even the slightest chance that Bella Swan was going to breath a word of what happened to anyone we would have to kill her. The Volturi would not take kindly to Edward's stupid reaction and in a town this small gossip is a unavoidable but if I had to I would kill each and every person she spoke to in order to protect our family, and my mate.

_A/N: Wow, I found this chapter so difficult to write, Jasper is so difficult to get when he is in angry/protective mode - I hope I got it across okay without everyone hating him. Thanks so much for all the support - especially twifantasyfan and Just4Me who has totally inspired me with all her reviews, you guys rock! Oh and, as always, please leave me some love ^_^_


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